You won’t believe how much money the Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) has wasted in persecuting a trustee for defending the Faith.

This story should sicken every ratepayer and voter in the city, especially ahead of the municipal elections this October, and here’s the kicker ...

The details were hidden away from prying public eyes until a concerned citizen recently blew the whole thing open.

I’ll get to those details in a moment, but first, I need to put this story into context.

The TCDSB was the subject of televised national humiliation last year over lavish expenses billed to taxpayers for the personal benefit of a trustee, verging on corruption.

In September 2025, Ontario’s Education Minister Paul Calandra made an example of TCDSB Ward 2 trustee, Markus De Domenico, for charging taxpayers almost $7,000 for 61 different purchases including multiple TV wall mounts (presumably for his home), projectors and screens, a $145 “Graphite Milanese” strap for his Apple Watch, cameras, AirPods, and many other questionable expenses.

Newspapers ran stories mocking Trustee De Domenico for having billed taxpayers $15.81 for a milk shake and for getting McDonald’s delivered at 3:00 am to satisfy his late-night munchies.

During the ensuing media storm, De Domenico even admitted to taking his parents out to lunch, and billing taxpayers for all the food! He wasn’t the least bit embarrassed.

Minister Calandra cited this kind of wasteful and inappropriate spending by the TCDSB as the reason why he placed the board under government supervision, essentially freezing De Domenico and his trustee colleagues out of having any further decision-making authority, except issues relating to the Catholic faith (a constitutional requirement).

Calandra claimed that De Domenico’s taxpayer-funded spending spree was widespread at the entire board level, although he didn’t cite any further examples.

Well, I know of a second example that the Minister would surely have noticed, and it’s a whopper!

This one came to a staggering $431,147.60 and we only found out because of a Freedom of Information request by a vigilant blogger, Patricia Maloney.

What was it for?

Led by Trustee Markus De Domenico along with Trustee Maria Rizzo (Ward 5), the TCDSB spent almost half a million taxpayer dollars to conduct an unprecedented legal attack against their colleague, Trustee Michael Del Grande.

This enormous bill consisted of paying high-priced lawyers between 2019 and 2025 to persecute Trustee Del Grande because he dared to speak out against the infiltration of Gender Identity theory in TCDSB schools.

They buried Del Grande under a mountain of Code of Conduct complaints, board investigations, court hearings and Teachers College complaints. It was totally insane lawfare, designed to destroy an innocent man because a cabal of trustees didn’t like his traditional biblical beliefs.

You can view the full FOI here.

This revolting use of taxpayer money is made all the more repugnant because it took away from the money available for actually teaching students.

Markus De Domenico has so little shame that he is seeking re-election in TCDSB Ward 2 (Etobicoke). Rather than slink away quietly into the night, this disgraceful excuse of a man thinks he deserves another four years as an elected trustee. The gall!

This is one of many reasons why De Domenico deserves to be ousted. Voters shouldn't let this unfaithful steward get re-elected after this massive financial scandal.

Likewise, his co-conspirator, Maria Rizzo in Ward 5 (North York), after making a laughingstock of the entire school board, is seeking re-election as a “Catholic” trustee. She deserves electoral retribution too.

There are a few other miscreants who voted along with De Domenico and Rizzo to pursue this $431,000 taxpayer-funded witch hunt, who are also seeking re-election, and need to be ousted:

• Trustee Ida Li Preti: Ward 3 – North York
   
• Trustee Frank D’Amico: Ward 6 – York
   
• Trustee Angela Kennedy: Ward 11 – East York, Toronto

Elections should carry consequences for bad behaviour, in the form of electoral defeat.