On November 19, 2025, our Conservative majority Ontario government passed the Supporting Children and Students Act, or Bill 33. The act intends to slow school board financial transactions, heighten ministerial oversight, and reintroduce school resource officers — or police officers — into schools. A day later, on November 20, 2025, it received Royal Assent. 

Before the bill was voted on, I covered my opinion on the act in an article titled “Doug Ford’s Bill 33, another push towards privatization.” There, I argued that this bill, alongside others like it, such as the Your Health Act, were attempts by the Conservative provincial government to privatize Ontario. 

Bill 33’s policies, which bypass trustees and provide more power to the Minister of Education, would likely deter parents from public schools and push them to send their children to private institutions. Similarly, Bill 60, Your Health Act, expands the number of procedures private clinics in Ontario are allowed to perform, thus pushing patients away from our public health care system. 

Now, patients seeking safe and urgent care may opt for these private centres, thereby justifying efforts to lower funding to the public hospitals. Both bills have the capacity to weaken public infrastructure, and coerce civilians into private clinics and schools. 

My opinion on Bill 33 has changed very little since it was enacted into law, but now that it’s here, it’s important to focus more on the future. Students, like myself, have discussed this act extensively, but most students are not seasoned politicians. Hence, I decided to interview NDP Member of Provincial Parliament, Chris Glover, to gain more insight into the impacts of Bill 33. 

As an MPP for Spadina-York since 2018, Glover has shown a commitment to protecting Ontario students’ right to education and Ontario teachers’ right to fair salaries. He fought valiantly against OSAP cuts, proposed rebate policies for post-secondary students, and organized town halls open to the public. 

This dedication to lessening privatization extends into the party. Before the final debate and vote on Bill 33, Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles was kicked out of the Queen’s Park chamber after calling Premier Doug Ford’s government “corrupt.” She stood behind her accusation even after her expulsion. All things considered, Stiles’ dedication and Glover’s active willingness to speak with students seemed novel to me. 

I rarely see politicians so eager to engage with students, so I found myself agreeing with Glover when he claimed the NDP are the last standing progressive party in Ontario politics. 

“There used to be a time where Progressive Conservatives were actually progressive, and when Liberals were the progressive party, and the NDP were a very progressive party,” Glover said. “I think what has happened now is that the Liberals and Conservatives have moved so far to the right that only the NDP is still fighting for public education, eliminating student debt, and bringing an end to homelessness by building affordable houses.” 

What Glover referred to is something I’ve observed myself. Policies once seen as commonplace, unilaterally agreed upon — like affordable housing — now splinter our political parties. The Conservative Party would rather protect private interests than the public’s, resulting in public structures and institutions becoming collateral. Their preferred method for justifying their actions is accusations of corruption or inefficiency. 

Minister of Education Paul Calandra claims that trustees and school boards were mismanaging funds. The Ontario government saw the Your Health Act as a tool to reduce wait times. To me, Bill 33 was simply a justification for lessening funding. It is a “platform,” as Glover put it. 

“There’s a section [230.5] in there [Bill 33] that gives the Minister of Education the power to sell our schools,” he continued, rightfully calling it “a real estate scam.” If restoring order through restricting financial abuse was the goal, then the Bill would not need to weaken the trustee position. 

Trustees are democratically elected officials; they are “the parents’ and the students’ elected representatives.” The public and democratic nature of the position requires transparency. 

When Glover was a trustee, they “had a budgeting process and held that process publicly.” He went on, “There would be public consultations, and they would say, ‘look this is how much money we have for next year, this is how we are thinking of spending it.’ ” 

Trustees serve as bridges connecting often distant administrators to disgruntled parents. School trustees and student unions aid in mobilizing and voicing students’ and parents’ worries to the government. In weakening them, Glover argued that “the government eliminates the opposition to their real agenda: to privatize our schools.” 

Proponents of Bill 33 cite cases of trustees spending upwards of $50,000 on lavish expenses like a trip to Italy to purchase art for two new high schools. In my original article, I voiced my disapproval but noted that the funds, even if spent appropriately, were not enough to resolve shortages and expenses. I currently maintain that opinion with the added realization that this is actually a distraction. 

Glover claimed that “what [Calandra] is doing is misdirection. The other audit [Ford’s government] did on the school board came back clean.” These cases detract from the school boards’ validity. How can you claim underfunding while your trustees spend exorbitantly? The reality is that schools are underfunded, and the public nature of the trustee position would limit the Ford government if their intention was to capitalize. 

Since 2018, school board funding has decreased by over 3.1 billion dollars. Unfortunately, I know schools will remain as underfunded as they were before the Bill’s passage. The tragedy is that Ontario should pride itself on its education. I write this article while attending a university that proudly bears the name of the largest city in Ontario and Canada. U of T stands among the highest-ranked universities in the world. 

Education is, according to Glover, “Ontario’s biggest competitive advantage.” Glover continued, stating that “undermining that system in order to privatize it is going to have a huge negative impact on our economy ultimately.” 

I don’t know, nor can I predict the damage this bill will bring. But what I do know is that Chris Glover and the NDP “will fight back.” The NDP hopes to “invest in our schools so that our kids can attend well-maintained and properly staffed schools” and “rebuild the system.” Although this plan relies on them winning a majority government in the provincial elections. 

Students who think themselves politically aware rightfully hold distrust for governments. Wholly trusting political officials will not guarantee everlasting change. To those students, MPP Chris Glover encourages you to “Sign a petition. Join a movement. Run for the Student Union.” 

Initially, I ended my first article with a brief call to action. I instructed you to voice your grievances and contact your MPPs. 

My current advice is an extension of that. I used to wonder what happened after a bill passed. As a political science student, I have had the importance of civic duties and voting rights drilled into me. So now I hope to restate its importance to the readers. Vote. And if you can’t, then volunteer. Tutor low-income students. Avoid total complacency. 

Emmanuella Nwabuoku is an Opinion Domestic Affairs Columnist studying political science and gender studies.