My question is for the Minister of Education. I want to thank him for coming to the riding of Barrie–Innisfil, where he heard first-hand from many parents—parents like Lynn, who is a working mom of five and is also serving as a school trustee locally. He heard resoundingly that we need to focus on teaching relevant life skills, job skills—things that will help their children succeed not only in the classroom, but also in today’s modern economy.

While our government is actively modernizing course content and providing historic levels of funding, we must also make sure that leadership and governance at the board level continue to reflect the priorities that will serve our students best.

I want to ask the minister—speaking to parents not only in Barrie–Innisfil, but all across this province—how are we going to focus on what matters most in our education system and strengthen our education system?

Thank you to the member for Barrie–Innisfil for this question.

As the Premier often says, we have among the best educators in the country. We’re proud of what they do. We want to set them up for long-term success. Frankly, we want to continue to invest in their development.

Mr. Speaker, right now, a problem we are committed to fixing is that faculties of education currently have no requirement to work with the college of teachers or the Ministry of Education to set out minimum requirements for their professional development or learning experience. We’re now going to be involved at the front end, setting prerequisites related to mental health, special education, the science of leadership, of literacy promotion, according to the new curriculum and, of course, their mathematical competence. That is what a modern teacher should look like. It’s what we are endeavouring to do. It’s what we’re going to do through this bill.

We’re also going to literally reduce the amount of days by half that it takes for the process to certify a new educator, a highly talented person from around the world or at home. We’re going to do it quicker.

Finally, we’re taking zero tolerance when it comes to crimes against children—by ensuring they are lifetime-banned from teaching in this province.