Lecce was born in Vaughan, Ontario, the son of Italian immigrants who came to Canada in the late 1950s. At age 13, Lecce worked on former Progressive Conservative MPP Al Palladini's successful re-election campaign in 1999.
Education and early career
Lecce 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. There, he 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 under Stephen Harper. Lecce was hired following a personal interaction with Harper in his capacity as president of Western's University Students' Council. At the PMO, Lecce served as Deputy Director of Communications before being promoted to Director of Media Relations. Lecce owns a public relations consultancy firm.
Political career
Lecce ran as a Progressive Conservative in the riding of King—Vaughan on June 7, 2018 and won. He received 29,136 votes. On June 29, 2018, Lecce became the Parliamentary Assistant to Monte McNaughton, the Minister of Infrastructure. On July 31, Lecce became Parliamentary Assistant to the Premier. On June 20, 2019, he was sworn in as Ontario's Minister of Education. Beginning in October 2019, labour disputes between the provincial government and Ontario's four largest teachers unions, have caused rotating strike action. A joint strike by all four 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 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." On March 12, 2020, Lecce announced that all publicly funded schools in Ontario would be closed for two weeks after March Break due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, however, the schools never reopened, and on May 19, announced that they would not reopen until the following school year in September. 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 as a single cohort, while most high school students will split their time between the classroom and online learning. 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.
