Stephen Francis Lecce, also called Stephen Lecce, is a Canadian politician who is a member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. In 2020, he is the current Minister of Education. 

Stephen Lecce: Bio 

Is Stephen Lecce Italian?

Stephen Lecce Lecce was born in Vaughan, Ontario to Italian immigrants who came to Canada in the late 1950s. At age 13, Lecce worked on former Progressive Conservative MPP (a fellow Italian) Al Palladini’s successful re-election campaign in 1999. 

Education:

Stephen Lecce was born on November 26, 1986. 

He attended St. Margaret Mary’s Catholic School in Vaughan, St. Michael’s College School in Toronto, and later the University of Western Ontario for his undergraduate studies in political science. 

Early Career: 

Stephen Lecce was elected and served as president of Western’s University Students’ Council. While studying at Western, he was initiated into the Sigma Chi Fraternity, eventually serving as president of the Western Chapter.

After graduation, Lecce joined the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) under Stephen Harper. Here at the PMO, he was called to serve as Deputy Director of Communications before being promoted to Director of Media Relations.

What does Stephen Lecce do?

Career Details of Stephen Lecce:

1. Consultant

Lecce owns a public relations consultancy firm.

2. Politician

Stephen Lecce is a Canadian politician. Before he was appointed to cabinet, he served as the Deputy Government House Leader. He was also the Parliamentary Assistant to Minister of Infrastructure Monte McNaughton and a parliamentary assistant to the Premier Doug Ford. 

He has served as the Ontario minister of education since June 20, 2019. 

A member of the Progressive Conservative (PC) party, Lecce is the member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for King—Vaughan, representing the riding in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since his election in 2018.  Lecce was assigned to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) during the Harper government.

3. 42nd Parliament (July 11, 2018 – present )

Minister of Education 

June 20, 2019 – present

Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier 

July 31, 2018 – June 20, 2019

Member, Standing Committee on Estimates 

July 26, 2018 – October 28, 2019

Deputy Government House Leader 

July 23, 2018 – June 20, 2019

Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure 

June 29, 2018 – June 20, 2019

4. Party affiliation(s)

Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario

June 7, 2018 – present

Who is the current minister of education in Ontario?

The current minister of education is Stephen Lecce. Last year in June 2019, he was sworn in as Ontario’s Minister of Education.  

By that start of October 2019, labour disputes between the provincial government and Ontario’s four largest teachers unions (ETFO, OSSTF, OECTA, and AEFO [fr]),  caused rotating strike action.  A joint strike by all four of these unions on February 21, 2020, marked the first province-wide closure of schools since 1997 strikes against the Harris government. 

Earlier that month, on February 4, New Democratic Party leader Andrea Horwath called for Doug Ford to fire Lecce as Education Minister, however, Ford assured that Italian-Canadian Stephen Lecce would remain in office. On February 12, Lecce called the decision for the four largest teachers unions to hold the joint strike an “irresponsible choice.”

COVID 19 Changes: 

• When the COVID 19 virus struck the world, it was ubiquitous by 2020. This led Lecce to announce that all publicly funded schools in Ontario would be closed for two weeks after March Break due to the pandemic. However  the schools never reopened since March 12th and on May 19, he announced that they would not reopen until the following school year in September due to the persistent pandemic. 

• On July 30, Lecce announced a $309 million plan for the resumption of public education in September. Elementary students will resume full time education in September 2020 as a single cohort, while most high school students will split their time between the classroom and online learning. Doing a combination of the two helped life to continue to a certain degree to normalcy. 

• Continuing to adapt to the pandemic, students in grades 4 to 12 will be required to wear a mask while at school, while students in junior kindergarten to grade 3, will be encouraged, but not required as cases were very low for this age group.