Former northern Ont. school board chair in education minister’s crosshairs

Jay Aspin, former chair of the Near North District School Board, has been criticized in a video posted by Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra.

Jay Aspin, the former chair of the Near North District School Board, has been heavily criticized in a video posted by Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra.

Aspin was briefly the chair of the board in the wake of a provincial investigation that found deep-seated problems with the way the board functioned, culminating in a surprise delay in opening a $58 million JK-Grade 12 school last fall.

Parents were outraged that they were only told in August that the school wouldn’t open in September, and the board scrambled to come up with a backup plan.

Aspin became board chair after the report came out, but the province soon took control and sidelined trustees, a decision Aspin criticized.

The minute-long video posted Tuesday took a swipe at Aspin, writing that while the ministry is “fixing the dysfunction” at the board Aspin once warned him of, he’s accusing him of “pretending accountability is the problem.”

The 33-page review was critical of former education director Craig Myles. It found a widespread perception that he was “a shadow leader.”

The report found he moved out of the main school board office and into an empty school. He also participated in his own job performance reviews, which saw his salary increase from $171,000 in 2020 to more than $303,000 in 2024, a hike of 37.48 per cent.

At the time, Calandra issued 15 binding directives to the school board to fix the governance issues and rebuild public confidence.

The province took control when the board failed to comply with 10 of the directions within the timelines.

“The former chair of the Near North District School Board is trying to pretend oversight is about control,” Calandra’s video said in a voiceover.

“But Jay Aspin seems to have forgotten something. Before rejoining the board, he wrote directly to the Minister of Education.”

The video shows an email Aspin wrote to Calandra on March 28, 2025, warning him of a “highly dysfunctional board” with the “makings of a disaster.”

The “situation urgently needed action,” the video said.

“That’s exactly what the minister did … Under this board’s watch, students were learning in a half-demolished school instead of the new building they were promised. No parents or students should ever have to accept that.”

Aspin declined an interview, but wrote in a statement to CTV News that he came back to the board to help trustees due to his experience and with the board being “in bad shape.”

Aspin was chair of the board for 13 days before Calandra intervened.

‘Unusual’ and ‘concerning’

“I find it quite unusual and somewhat concerning that a sitting minister is publicly attacking a private citizen,” Aspin wrote in the text.

The video clip features Calandra at the school board office, the Parry Sound build and outside of the school board.

“If it’s just about saving your job, Jay Aspin, that’s a nonstarter. We’re here to make the system better,” the video said.

At a recent public town hall meeting with parents and educators in Parry Sound, Calandra faced tough questions and criticism over the delayed school building.

A few times during the meeting, parents shouted at him.

Calandra told parents that the construction of the new school is “90 per cent” complete and that it will be ready by September.

The main issue, he said, involves the exterior brickwork, which was laid incorrectly and has to be ripped out and replaced in the spring.

When Calandra assumed control of the board, the original contractor, Van Horne Construction Ltd., was fired.

The province is in the process of hiring a new general contractor.

Calandra also told the crowd that he plans to remain in control of the board until the school is built and the governance issues are rectified.