Ontario appoints reviewer for Catholic school board after pricey Italy art trip

The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board on Oct. 17, 2024.

TORONTO — Ontario has appointed a reviewer to look into expenses at the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board after four trustees spent $45,000 on a trip to Italy to buy $100,000 worth of art in July.

Education Minister Jill Dunlop calls the board’s use of public money “appalling.”

Aaron Shull, who is currently the managing director and general counsel at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, has also been tasked with examining the board’s conflict of interest and accountability policies.

The four trustees who went to Italy have promised to pay back the trip expenses and look at donations or other funding to offset the cost of the artwork.

The Brantford Expositor reported that the art purchased in Italy included life-sized, hand-painted wooden statues of St. Padre Pio and the Virgin Mary, a large crucifix, sculptures depicting the 14 stations of the cross and a bust of Pope Francis.

Board chair Rick Petrella initially told the Expositor that they considered buying art off the shelf, but nothing stood out so he and three other trustees travelled to Italy to meet artisans and commission the religious artwork.

Dunlop says trustees are expected to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

“The BHNCDSB’s misuse of public dollars is appalling, and they have failed students, parents and their community with a serious lack of fiscal responsibility and judgment,” she wrote in a statement.

The Ministry of Education is also reviewing discretionary expenses at all school boards in Ontario.

Shull’s final report is to be delivered by March

The province is also conducting an audit of the Thames Valley District School Board in southwestern Ontario due to a staff retreat in Toronto that cost nearly $40,000, including a stay at the Rogers Centre hotel.

The ministry is also doing an expedited investigation of the Toronto District School Board after Premier Doug Ford raised concerns about a recent field trip that saw students from 15 schools attend a protest on mercury contamination affecting a First Nation community in the north.

Videos of the protest on social media show some march participants chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, which prompted Ford to complain that teachers were trying to indoctrinate children.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 19, 2024.

Allison Jones, The Canadian Press