Thank you for the question from the opposition side. It is very important that we need to carry on supporting the francophone communities in our education sectors. That’s why we are investing more in education. If we have the opportunity to read about our budget for this fiscal year, we may see that there is a $2.1-billion increase in investing in the public education sector. That is one of the reasons why we are supporting this bill: because we are investing more in education than ever.

This is very important to me, because we need to always understand our own jurisdiction. We don’t cross our border. We don’t step on other people’s toes. We help each other so that we can be a board that can help our students move forward. That’s why in this legislation, we need to provide more funding for school boards for trustee training so that they know what they should do and what they shouldn’t.

The Minister of Education also announced that we are investing more than $180 million for 2023-24 in math and reading support for Ontario students in our classrooms and at home. This is building upon our previous $200-million investment with support to students with our four-year math strategy. The numbers go on and on. I don’t know why you are not supporting this one, but this is very well-supported education—

I heard the member boast about his government’s investment in schools in Ontario, but I wonder if he would share with the people of this province what that investment would be if it had kept pace with inflation, because just looking at the dollars, without taking inflation into account, presents a very different picture of how school boards are funded.

We know that when inflation is taken into account school boards are receiving on average $1,200 less per student in the 2023-24 school year than what they received in 2018-19. Total funding is $2.5 billion short of where it would have been if it had kept pace with inflation. So would the member please comment on what the numbers would look like when inflation is taken into account?

“All students”—I’m quoting the member opposite—“deserve the opportunity to learn to their fullest capacity.” I couldn’t agree more as a mother of a special-needs child, as is my friend from Newmarket–Aurora. We certainly care about these things. This government has actually increased funding for special needs in schools by about $100 million every year since we have been in office—every year. But parents come to me and they say “Where is the money going?” I don’t know. We don’t know, in fact.

What this bill is trying to do is to say, “We need you to report, school boards, what you’re spend spending that money on.” Because I’ve had teachers and parents tell me that when school boards need money, the first place they take it from is the special-needs funding envelope. I support this legislation because I want children with special needs to have the advantage of that money.