The Catholic Church considers that elected democratic office is a position of immense responsibility, to be held in high trust and exercised with great humility, wisdom, and responsibility, in the interest of the common good.
This is particularly true with respect to those who seek to govern publicly-funded Catholic Schools. Education is of first importance for the future of our society; and Catholic education, properly conducted, can be of unique importance in passing our faith and the great good it can bring to individuals and societies to future generations. Few endeavors offer comparable opportunities to integrate faith into the entire range of personal and social values for future generations.
Trustees are broadly responsible for setting the mission and goals of the schools they govern. This includes overseeing and encouraging the director of education; setting and monitoring school budgets in order to ensure that students have adequate teachers and administrators, as well as adequate material resources such as school rooms, books, and other educational materials; developing policies that support and encourage superior student performance, both academically and in terms of spiritual and sacramental growth; and serving as spokespersons for Catholic education. And in doing so, they must be acting as credible – that is, joyful and well-formed – Christian witnesses.
This calls for individuals possessing rare combinations of professional and religious capabilities, as well as joyful and respectful personalities. Those who put their names forward for service as trustees are volunteering for difficult and complex jobs of grave responsibility.
Those who elect Catholic school trustees owe it to students, to society, and to those who serve in schools, as well as all foreseeable future generations, to educate themselves properly in the responsibilities of those whom they elect; to inform themselves concerning the goals and qualifications of those who seek office; and to reflect prayerfully on which candidates to vote for. This is a very great responsibility. Approached properly, it can be considered an act of prayer and devout witness.
The Church teaches that the ultimate purpose of this life is to seek the truth, which is God. “God is the ultimate end of his creatures and for no reason may the common good be deprived of its transcendent dimension.” This truth is most effectively communicated to our children when their families, parishes, and schools are properly prepared and properly engaged in their complementary roles.
- Algonquin & Lakeshore CDSB (Region 1) – Website – Ward Information
- Brant Haldimand Norfolk CDSB (Region 3) – Website – Ward Information
- Bruce-Grey CDSB (Region 3) – Website – Ward Information
- Catholic DSB of Eastern Ontario (Region 1) – Website – Ward Information
- Dufferin-Peel CDSB (Region 2) – Website – Ward Information
- Durham CDSB (Region 2) – Website – Ward Information
- Halton CDSB (Region 2) – Website – Ward Information
- Hamilton-Wentworth CDSB (Region 6) – Website – Ward Information
- Huron-Perth CDSB (Region 3) – Website – Ward Information
- Huron-Superior CDSB (Region 4) – Website – Ward Information
- Kenora CDSB (Region 5) – Website – Ward Information
- London District CSB (Region 3) – Website – Ward Information
- Niagara CDSB (Region 6) – Website – Ward Information
- Nipissing-Parry Sound CDSB (Region 4) – Website – Ward Information
- Northeastern CDSB (Region 4) – Website – Ward Information
- Northwest CDSB (Region 5) – Website – Ward Information
- Ottawa Catholic SB (Region 1) – Website – Ward Information
- Peterborough VNC CDSB (Region 1) – Website – Ward Information
- Renfrew County CDSB (Region 1) – Website – Ward Information
- Simcoe Muskoka CDSB (Region 2) – Website – Ward Information
- St. Clair CDSB (Region 3) – Website – Ward Information
- Sudbury CDSB (Region 4) – Website – Ward Information
- Superior North CDSB (Region 5) – Website – Ward Information
- Thunder Bay CDSB (Region 5) – Website – Ward Information
- Toronto CDSB (Region 2) – Website – Ward Information
- Waterloo CDSB (Region 6) – Website – Ward Information
- Wellington CDSB (Region 6) – Website – Ward Information
- Windsor-Essex CDSB (Region 3) – Website – Ward Information
- York CDSB (Region 2) – Website – Ward Information
Candidate Questionnaires & Responses
Earlier this spring, in partnership with the Ontario Catholic School Trustees Association (OCSTA) and the Saint Monica Institute for Education and Evangelization, Catholic Conscience hosted a province-wide workshop for those considering whether to seek election as Catholic school trustees. Several of our attendees, along with numerous other parents, trustees, and educators, asked us to reflect on further ways in which we might help candidates and voters understand one another and the responsibilities of serving as a Catholic school trustee.
At the suggestion of two long-serving and highly respected trustees, we prepared questionnaires designed to draw out from candidates their purposes and goals in seeking office as trustees. We drew inspiration from OCSTA’s documentation, asking open-ended questions intended, as all our work, to provoke thought, respect, and engagement.
We’ve begun to gather some very thoughtful answers. Look for your district, ward/zone, and relevant candidates’ responses in the tables below. If you don’t see a response from a candidate of interest, let us know, and encourage them to respond to us. We are reaching out to all boards and candidates we can find contact information for, and are already seeing steady traffic on this page.
NOTES for clarity:
- Although we have worked with OCSTA in the past and hope to do so again, and although we drew inspiration for our questionnaire from OCSTA’s excellent materials, OCSTA has not endorsed our questionnaire.
- It is a statutory requirement that candidates for Catholic public school trustee positions be Catholic. However, it does not appear to be the practice of provincial authorities to require any proof of Catholicism from candidates at the time of registration, other than a general statement of affirmation. Our questionnaire invites candidates to provide letters of acknowledgement from their pastors, or any other evidence they choose demonstrating devout Catholicism, for the information of voters. We do not, however, require candidates to provide such information or to answer any other questions in our forms as a condition of posting their responses. Whether or not a candidate chooses to provide any documentation or to answer any question in our forms is entirely within her or his discretion. In our view an answer is right or wrong only in the eyes of individual voters.
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