Ottawa's public school board is heading into a trustee election unlike any other in recent memory, with outgoing members openly wondering who would want a job that comes with no real authority and no paycheque.
A Year in Limbo
For the past year, elected trustees at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) have been sidelined after the Ontario government appointed a supervisor to oversee the board's finances and operations. That move stripped trustees of their decision-making powers and their compensation, leaving them in an awkward holding pattern — still elected, still showing up, but without much say in how the board is actually run.
Current and outgoing trustees have described the situation as demoralizing, telling CBC Ottawa they've watched from the sidelines as a provincially appointed supervisor makes the calls that used to fall to the elected board. For a role that's supposed to represent Ottawa families and their kids' education, being reduced to a bystander position has been a tough pill to swallow.
Why Ottawa Residents Should Care
Despite all that, 19 candidates have already put their names forward for the upcoming OCDSB trustee election — a sign that plenty of Ottawa residents still see value in having a voice on the board, even a diminished one. The OCDSB serves tens of thousands of students across Ottawa, making decisions (or at least advocating for decisions) that touch everything from school boundaries to programming to how tax dollars get spent on education in the city.
The fact that so many people are willing to run for a job with no formal power right now says something about civic engagement in Ottawa — candidates appear to be betting that the provincial supervision won't last forever, and that having experienced, invested trustees in place will matter once authority is eventually handed back.
What Happens Next
It's still unclear exactly when the OCDSB will regain full local control, or what conditions the province has set for restoring trustee powers. In the meantime, candidates running this fall will need to campaign on a promise that's more about the future than the present: convincing Ottawa voters that their voice is worth banking on, even if it won't count for much on day one.
For Ottawa parents and residents following the race, the coming months will be worth watching closely — not just for who wins, but for any signals on when trustees might actually get their jobs back in full.
Source: CBC Ottawa
