On his first official day as Toronto’s Mayor, John Tory met with Premier Kathleen Wynne to discuss priorities and how the two levels of government can work together towards the best possible decisions for constituents. Wynne said the two have committed to meeting regularly.
The agenda included transit, housing and investment opportunities. While public education is arguably as important to Toronto’s future success as transit, it is notably absent from this morning’s meeting agenda.
With 246,000 students attending almost 600 schools, the TDSB is a $3 Billion bureaucracy that requires attention not only from the TDSB Trustees who govern the board but also from our new Mayor and City Council. Last week, the TDSB finally got the attention of the Province with Liz Sandals announcing that outside expert Margaret Wilson will be conducting a review of the TDSB. What is required next is for the TDSB to get the attention of the City too.
John Tory and the TDSB arguably have similar visions – a vibrant city filled with educated, healthy citizens. So let’s hope that our new Mayor will also forge new relations with our local school board. With regular meetings between our City Council and the TDSB, we could see a stronger Toronto.