Ontario Education Minister Faces Scrutiny Over $1,700 Legislative Dining Room Expenses

Ontario Education Minister Paul Calandra is facing questions about nearly $1,800 in meals charged to taxpayers at the Legislative Dining Room, a basement restaurant at Queen's Park frequented by politicians and staff, even as he publicly criticized school board trustees for far smaller purchases.

Expense disclosures show Calandra spent $1,089.32 at the dining room in March, $147.47 in April, and $539.01 in May, totaling $1,775.80 across the three months. While those monthly figures are part of the public record, itemized receipts are not included in the disclosures, and Calandra's office declined to release further details about what the charges covered.

The scrutiny arrives at a sharp political moment. In recent weeks, Calandra had been publicly releasing the expense records of trustees at the Toronto Catholic District School Board, calling out purchases including a $15 milkshake and a late-night burger delivery. He also wrote to the board chair demanding the return of more than $6,000 in supplies bought on a public credit card, a list that included phone cases, charging cables, and earphones.

Ontario NDP MPP Chandra Pasma drew a direct line between the two. "Calandra is chasing after milkshake expenses while taking billions out of our classrooms and wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars on fancy meals for himself," Pasma said.

The minister's office pushed back on that framing, telling Global News it was "laughable" to compare the expenses of part-time school board trustees to those of a sitting cabinet minister.

The absence of itemized receipts leaves open questions about the nature of the dining room charges, including whether meals involved guests, alcohol, or other costs that would provide fuller context for the spending. Without that detail, the disclosures confirm the total but not what taxpayers were actually paying for.