A Toronto private school has been able to host a model parliament at the Ontario Legislature for 30 years, and a local MPP says the same opportunity should be offered to other schools.

Cheri DiNovo, the member of the legislature for Parkdale-High Park, gave an interview to The Canadian Press in which she called for an end to the "elitist" tradition of allowing Upper Canada College to host its Ontario Model Parliament in the legislature.

Her remarks drew criticism from the Upper Canada College community, but DiNovo told CBC News on Tuesday evening that the use of the legislature for hosting such an event is "quite a privilege," which shouldn't be exclusive to the private school.

"Why only them?" DiNovo said. "Why can't this be broadened out?"

She said other schools could host such an event and invite the private school to participate, just as Upper Canada College does now.

Teacher 'disappointed' by MPP's remarks

Earlier Tuesday, Matt Griem, a teacher at Upper Canada College who has served as the faculty adviser for the model parliament, defended the event that the school has hosted for three decades.

He pointed out that the model parliament was open to schools from across the province.

Griem sent CBC News a list of more than 20 schools that participated in this year's model parliament. More than two-thirds of the schools were from Toronto and most of the rest from nearby areas.

He said that it has traditionally been more difficult to get students to come from parts of the province that are farther away, because of the cost involved with finding a place to stay when making a trip to Toronto.

Griem said that the school tries hard "to make sure that everyone who wants to come can."

The Upper Canada College teacher said he spoke to DiNovo's office on Tuesday afternoon to say that he was "quite disappointed" with her remarks about the model parliament.

As for DiNovo's call for the legislature-hosting arrangement to come to an end, Griem said that the school had previously announced that this year's model parliament would be the last.

Instead, there are plans to create an Ontario Model United Nations in its place.