Mario Santos
Mario Jorge Santos (born 1952) is a former public official in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He was a prominent member of the Winnipeg School Board from 1982 to 2002.
Santos was born in Portugal and moved to Canada in 1968.[1] He is a lawyer, and operated a tax consulting business during his time as a school trustee.[2] He is a Roman Catholic, and has served as chairman of the pastoral council at Immaculate Conception Church in Winnipeg.[3] Santos describes himself as a staunch supporter of public education.[4]
Trustee
Santos was first elected to the Winnipeg School Board's second ward in a by-election following the death of Inez Stevenson. He was returned in the 1983 municipal election, and again in 1986, 1989, 1992, 1995 and 1998. He did not seek re-election in 2002.
Santos served as school board chairman during his first full term, and defended a controversial pay increase for trustees (which followed a review by Manitoba Appeal Court Judge Charles Huband).[5] He helped found the Manitoba Association for the Preservation of Ancestral Languages in 1983, to advocate for the teaching of languages other than English and French.[6] In 1991, he supported the removal of mandatory prayer from schools.[7] Santos served as the board's Finance Committee chairman in the early 1990s, and conducted several rounds of negotiations over funding with the provincial government. He became known in this period as a champion of board autonomy from provincial control.[8]
Santos was a vocal opponent introducing video surveillance to Winnipeg schools in 1993, arguing that it would give them the appearance of jails.[9] He supported the provincial government's decision the following year to create a secretariat for coordinating children's services, arguing that it was long overdue.[10]
In 1994, Santos voted against a motion to study the integration of anti-homophobia tolerance lessons into Winnipeg classrooms. Santos indicated that his opposition was not based in homophobia, and said that he had lobbied to have "sexual orientation" included in the Manitoba Human Rights Code. His position was that anti-discrimination should be taught generally, and not targeted to specific groups.[11]
Santos oversaw significant cuts to the school division's employee budget in 1995, during a period of general economic restructuring in Canada. He said that he took no pleasure in the cuts, but that they were necessary to protect classroom programs.[12] He described teacher demands for wage and benefit increases in this period as unreasonable.[13]
Santos was appointed as board vice-chairman following the 1995 election, while retaining his position as Finance Chairman.[14]
Provincial and federal politics
Santos entered politics a member of the Manitoba Liberal Party, and ran under its banner in the north-end Winnipeg division of The Maples in the 1977 provincial election. He left the party after Charles Huband's resignation as leader, saying it was moving too far to the right. In a 1996 interview, Santos indicated that he probably would have remained a Liberal if Sharon Carstairs had directly succeeded Huband. He described himself as a "Trudeau Liberal" in the same interview, and indicated that he was dissatisfied with the direction of the federal party under Jean Chrétien.[15]
Santos joined the New Democratic Party after leaving the Liberals, although his relationship with the party was sometimes difficult. He declined the party's endorsement in 1995, and chose to run for re-election as an independent.[16] After the election, he said that he would not participate in an NDP caucus.[17]
Footnotes
- ^ Glen MacKenzie, "In a class of his own", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 December 1996, B4.
- ^ David Sinclair, "Happy Mother's Day ... Father", Winnipeg Free Press, 7 May 1994.
- ^ Nick Martin, "Loss of priest leads to anger", Winnipeg Free Press, 28 June 1996, A4.
- ^ Glen MacKenzie, "In a class of his own", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 December 1996, B4.
- ^ "Winnipeg gadfly keeps busy fighting former council mates", Globe and Mail, 28 December 1984, A3.
- ^ Richard Clereux, "New organization signals awakening for multilingual schooling in Manitoba", Globe and Mail, 24 September 1983, P11.
- ^ George Nikides, "Province's biggest school division may soon silence the Lord's Prayer", Winnipeg Free Press, 5 September 1991.
- ^ Brad Oswald, "Santos gives MAST ultimatum", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 March 1993.
- ^ Bonnie Bridge, "Spy cameras stand guard in schools", Winnipeg Free Press, 29 November 1993.
- ^ Alice Krueger, "Agency to focus on kids", Winnipeg Free Press, 18 October 1994.
- ^ Bill Redekop, "Board defeats gay ed motion", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 October 1994.
- ^ Aldo Santin, "Slashes to save classes", Winnipeg Free Press, 19 March 1995.
- ^ Also Santin, "Teachers ingrates: trustee", Winnipeg Free Press, 24 March 1995.
- ^ Bud Robertson, "A safe place to hit books", Winnipeg Free Press, 3 February 1996, A4; Bud Robertson, "Filmon lashed for tax boost", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 March 1996, A1.
- ^ Glen MacKenzie, "In a class of his own", Winnipeg Free Press, 15 December 1996, B4.
- ^ Aldo Santin, "Winnipeg One majors in politics", Winnipeg Free Press, 23 October 1995, A6.
- ^ Aldo Santin, "NDP grip on board ends", Winnipeg Free Press, 27 October 1995, A4.