Drew Caldwell (born April 10, 1960) is a politician in Manitoba, Canada. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba for the constituency of Brandon East from 1999 until 2016, serving as a Cabinet Minister in the governments of Gary Doer and Greg Selinger. Caldwell is a member of the New Democratic Party.
Early life and career Caldwell was born and raised in Brandon, Manitoba. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandon University (1982), a Bachelor of Education degree from Queen's University in Kingston (1983), and undertook graduate studies in history at McGill University in Montreal. He returned to Brandon permanently on the passing of his father in 1989, working as a supply teacher and managing the Brandon Career Symposium. He was active with community organizations such as the Park Community Centre and was a founding director of the Brandon Folk Music and Art Festival and the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba.Helen Fallding, "Firefighter ready to get feet wet as Brandon MLA", Winnipeg Free Press, 17 September 1999, A6.Meet Drew Caldwell , New Democratic Party of Manitoba, accessed 24 January 2007.
Caldwell was a member of the Brandon City Council from 1992 to 1999, representing the Rosser Ward (Ward Two). He was a founding director of the Brandon Regional Health Authority, and - on the provincial stage - an Executive Member of the Union of Manitoba Municipalities, the Manitoba Association of Urban Municipalities and the Association of Manitoba Municipalities between 1997 and 1999. He opposed residential property tax increases while on city council, and supported owners of single-family homes in calling for parts of the city to be re-zoned from high-density residential to low-density residential.Helen Fallding, "Tempers flare over downtown rezoning", Winnipeg Free Press, 12 November 1998, A10' "Brandon NDP's new candidate starts firing", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 August 1999, A9. In 1998, he chaired the Brandon Poverty Forum which led to the establishment of the Brandon Social Planning Council and a $50,000 civic reserve fund for social development.Helen Fallding, "Municipal tax cut sits on Wheat City horizon", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 December 1998, A4.
Active in the Manitoba NDP since his teens, Caldwell was President of the party when the writ was dropped for the 1999 General Election.
Member of the Legislative Assembly When longtime Brandon East MLA Len Evans announced his retirement in 1999, Caldwell defeated Ross Martin and Susan Ferron to win the riding's NDP nomination. He was elected without difficulty in the general election that followed, as the NDP won a provincial majority government under Gary Doer."Brandon NDP's new candidate starts firing", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 August 1999, A9.
Minister of Education and Training
Caldwell was respected for his political/administrative skills, and there was little surprise when he was appointed to cabinet as Minister of Education and Training on October 5, 1999. The position gave him oversight of the province's public schools and post-secondary institutions. His position was renamed as Minister of Education, Training and Youth in 2001, and his responsibilities for post-secondary institutions were transferred to Diane McGifford, the Minister of Advanced Education and Training.Sean O'Connor, "Rookie MLA joins cabinet", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 January 2001, A3.
Early initiatives
Soon after his appointment, Caldwell implemented an NDP campaign pledge to replace standardized Grade Three language and mathematics exams with individual diagnostic tests administered by teachers.Nick Martin, "Trustees decie Grade 9s must write English exam [sic]", Winnipeg Free Press, 4 November 1999, A9. Many teachers complained about the extra workload, and opposition critic Joy Smith argued that the test system should be restored.Nick Martin, "'Kids need to be assessed. Parents need to know,' says Smith", Winnipeg Free Press, 30 April 2001, A3. Caldwell responded that individual assessments were better suited to students' needs.
Caldwell also removed the controversial Youth News Network from Manitoba schools. The network's parent company, Athena Education Partners, had previously offered free technology to schools in return for requiring students to watch daily YNN broadcasts, which included commercials from private corporations. According to Todd Scarth of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, YNN televisions were equipped with two-way monitoring systems to ensure that students were watching and that the volume was not adjusted. Athena's contracts also required schools to hire a half-day technician to maintain YNN equipment.See Nick Martin, "Province-wide Grade 3 tests, YNN will go, Caldwell vows", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 October 1999, A6 and Todd Scarth, Letter, Winnipeg Free Press, 3 November 1999, A19. Caldwell described YNN's programming as "clearly an unsatisfactory curriculum choice" for children,"Education Minister announces end to contracts with Youth News Network" [Manitoba government press release], M2 Presswire, 21 October 1999. and oversaw the program's elimination once previously signed contracts were concluded in August 2000.Nick Martin, "Schools to pull plug on Youth Network", Winnipeg Free Press, 17 August 2000, A4. The network was also banned in other provinces, and went off the air in 2000."Manitoba educators complain Youth News Network computers were leased", Canadian Press, 4 January 2002, 22:48.
School funding
When he assumed office, Caldwell indicated that school board funding increases would be pegged relative to provincial economic growth. In February 2000, he announced that his government would provide schools with a 2.8% funding increase over the previous academic year.Nick Martin, "Schools get extra $30M", Winnipeg Free Press, 2 February 2000, A1. The Winnipeg One division saw its funding increase by $4.1 million, primarily due to a large number of students in special education.Nick Martin, "Board pressed to dip into reserve funds", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 February 2000, A3. Caldwell announced another 2.8% in 2001,"Editorial", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 January 2001, A10. and a 2.2% increase in 2002. The latter amount was smaller than in previous years, but higher than overall provincial growth.
Despite these increases, school trustees repeatedly warned the public that boards would be required to either raise taxes or cut back on services.Nick Martin, "Seniors pressure boards to cut school spending", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 March 2000, A4; Nick Martin, "School taxes on the launching pad", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 February 2001, A4. Caldwell acknowledged that the funding increases did not address all divisional needs, and blamed low levels of funding during the previous decade of Progressive Conservative government. He also suggested that some trustees were overpaid, noting that St. Vital trustees had voted to give themselves stipends of $300 per day to attend amalgamation meetings.Nick Martin, "Caldwell hits 'appalling' trustees' fee", Winnipeg Free Press, 20 March 2002, A3.
Amalgamations
Shortly after assuming office, Caldwell told his department to review the Norrie Commission findings on school boards and prepare a report on amalgamations. He indicated that his intent was to save money on administration, and put more funds directly into the classrooms.Nick Martin, "NDP eyes plan to merge school divisions", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 November 1999, A1. Caldwell called for voluntary board mergers in 2000, saying that school divisions would need at least two thousand students to be viable and that more than half the provincial divisions were below that level.Nick Martin, "Merger threat upsets school boards", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 July 2000, A6; Nick Martin, "Minister offers $10,000 carrot for 'exploration' of mergers", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 September 2000, A1.
The response from school boards was tepid, and Caldwell announced in late 2001 that he would reduce the number of provincial boards from 54 to 36. Three boards in Winnipeg were forced to merge.Nick Martin, "100 trustees to lose their jobs", Winnipeg Free Press, 9 November 2001, A1. A bill enacting these changes was passed in July 2002, and the new school division boundaries were in place for the 2002 municipal elections.Nick Martin, "Caldwell expects more mergers", Winnipeg Free Press, 22 July 2002, A9. The most difficult change was in Transcona-Springfield, which was split and merged with two pre-existing districts.Nick Martin, "School divisions struggle with deadline to merge", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 February 2002, A14.
During the amalgamation dispute, Caldwell introduced legislation requiring merged districts to submit their budgets to the minister for approval. He argued that this was necessary to prevent large property tax increases.Nick Martin, "Caldwell takes over division budgets", Winnipeg Free Press, 17 June 2002, A1. He also agreed to pay $50 per student to divisions that he forced into amalgamation, to compensate for the difficulties of restructuring.Nick Martin, "Caldwell relents, agrees to pay divisions forced to amalgamate", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 March 2002, A9.
Adult education
Caldwell was forced to cut per-student funding for adult education in 2000, after an unexpected surge in enrollment from the previous year put his department $10 million over budget. He later argued that some adult education programs had been inadequately managed during the previous administration, and expressed concern about the quality of education that adult students were receiving.Nick Martin, "Adult-education numbers throw budgets out of whack", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 February 2000, A8; "Adult education funding cut won't do harm, Caldwell says", Winnipeg Free Press, 26 February 2000, A12; "Division at heart of controversy", 6 March 2000, A2. His ministry discovered questionable recruitment practices in the Morris-Macdonald School Division, where cash bonuses had been paid to administrators who brought in thousands of adult students from elsewhere in the province. Caldwell ordered his department to investigate the matter, which he described as "clearly inappropriate".Nick Martin, "Minister probes school board 'payola'", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 March 2000, A1; Nick Martin, "Caldwell changes gears on adult-ed recruitment", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 March 2000, A4.
An October 2001 report from provincial auditor Jon Singleton found that the Morris-Macdonald board had offered courses of dubious quality, and had overbilled the province by as much as four million dollars by claiming students who were not actually enrolled. Caldwell dissolved the board the following month, and authorized the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to launch a criminal investigation.Aldo Santin, "School board fired in funding scandal", Winnipeg Free Press, 10 November 2001, A1. The RCMP later found that there was insufficient evidence to warrant criminal charges.Nick Martin, "No charges in learning centre fiasco", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 September 2005, A3. Caldwell said of the matter, "The absolute abrogation of responsibility that took place among these officials is appalling. There may well have to be some systemic change with respect to school board financial responsibility."Nick Martin, " Ex-trustees anger Caldwell", Winnipeg Free Press, 14 November 2001, A4. He introduced new legislation in May 2002."Caldwell tables legislation on adult education", Winnipeg Free Press, 17 May 2002, A5.