It’s an honour for me to rise and add the voices of the great people of London North Centre to debate on this bill that we have on the floor today, Bill 98, Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act.

The first thing, like the member for Parkdale–High Park, that I would like to focus on is the title itself. The title, Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, clearly puts students as secondary. They’re not even at the beginning of the title of this bill—and it’s not even about students; it’s about outcomes.

When you take a look at this bill, it’s very clear that the well-being of students in Ontario is not a concern for this government. Had that been a concern for this government, there would have been collaboration. There would have been communication. There would have been consultation with the people who know students best. Those include education staff, parents. But instead, we have not seen any consultation. We’ve seen that this government has bullied forward with this piece of legislation, and there will be consultation after the fact, which makes it a mere exercise for the actual democratic process.

This is also what some would say is a smoke-and-mirrors exercise for a government that refuses to properly fix or fund the education system. It’s hard for people in the province to trust this government. Since 2018, we have seen tremendous attacks and cuts on our schools. In 2018, there was the overt attack on the health and phys ed curriculum. We saw the government set up a snitch line. We saw a bogus consultation process, and we also see a shell game that they have enacted with privatization of education, quite frankly, making sure that private schools had the rapid COVID tests before our publicly funded schools.

So the public is really less likely to trust this government as being the protectors of public education, because they also decided to launch this legislation as a surprise attack on a Sunday.

ETFO correctly points out that this was the second time in two days that ETFO was caught off guard by Ministry of Education announcements, demonstrating clear lack of consideration and respect for education stakeholders. OSSTF’s Karen Littlewood said that this legislation “has very little in terms of supports or resources for students, despite its misleading title.... This legislation seems primarily focused on how school boards operate, and not how on we can better support students and make up for the learning loss experienced during the pandemic.”

This legislation, Speaker, sees students used as pawns.

Mental health shows up a total of four times in this bill, and it’s only in terms of policies and guidelines; it’s not in terms of actually making sure mental health supports are there for our students when and where they need them. Despite the claims of this government, it is not in the bill.

The Ontario Public School Boards Association, in the pre-budget consultations stated, “A continued increase in the number of school-based mental health professionals (social workers, psychologists, guidance councillors, child and youth workers, school mental health workers) to address the significant increase in the number and severity of students requiring support,” yet we don’t see the government funding this properly.

And from the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, Barb Dobrowolski says, “Since coming to office in 2018, the government’s agenda has been gutted by ideology rather than evidence. Policy decisions have been made with little thought, foresight or genuine consultation with stakeholders and experts, the consequences of which have been to destabilize public services. Enough is enough.”

Barb also goes on to state, “misleading statements that government officials offer in public, like when they claim to be making historic investments in education while conveniently ignoring that funding does not keep up with inflation”—it’s shocking, Speaker. We see this very calculated, very concerted shell game. We hear the government claim that they’re making tremendous investment, but yet we actually see funding going down. We see that students are now receiving $1,200 less per year, per student, because of this government’s cuts.

We heard at the standing committee in the pre-budget consultations that this government is also trying to create a crisis in education. Everyone remembers back when John Snobelen was caught on a hot mike saying that they needed to create a crisis in education, and the same is true now. This bill purports to refocus Ontario’s education system, but we don’t need a refocus. We need to make sure that schools have the resources that they need. In the government’s own materials, they contradict themselves. They state that Ontario is among the top-performing education systems nationally and internationally, and then they go on to say that they want to overhaul the system. It’s disturbing, Speaker.

I also want to return to some of the focuses of this bill, because this bill does seem to focus—or the government will claim this bill focuses on trades and apprenticeships, when it doesn’t get pointed out in the bill frequently or at all, and remind this government that it was the Mike Harris government that ripped trades classes out of schools. They destroyed that program so that grade 7 and grade 8 students would have that experience of working with their hands, of understanding that this was a viable and very rewarding experience, to build, to create. And it was continued by the Liberals, because that was never returned to schools. That is a loss. Expecting students that are going to be exposed to this in high school—it’s too late; it’s too late, Speaker. Students often are faced with a choice. They choose arts or music or trades as one of their electives. It’s incredibly unfortunate.

But also, this government seems to undermine the very nature of what education is itself. I’d like to also consider that in the creation of Bill 98, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, this government has not even abided by the skills that students need in Ontario’s classrooms. We hear a lot about leadership, about collaboration, about communication and critical thinking, and this government has displayed none of those things. They have not communicated. They have not collaborated. They haven’t even shown critical thinking by talking to the very experts in education. Instead, they’re bulldozing forward with their plan.

David Moscrop from TVO says that the government is hoping to “reshape the province’s education plan, gearing it toward ideas that are more reminiscent of plans for an early 20th-century ... factory than a contemporary society.” He also goes on to talk about the immortal poet William Butler Yeats, who is frequently cited in education circles, who stated that education was not the act of filling a bucket, but of lighting a fire. It’s about inspiration. It is about showing students what is possible. It is about igniting curiosity and showing them the skills that they have. As a former educator myself—a teacher librarian, in fact—I could see the difference: When you could get the right book into a student’s hand, it would change their life.

It’s just incredibly shocking that this government is bulldozing ahead with this without any real consultation, any real collaboration. They simply don’t understand what’s necessary.

The members from Niagara Falls and from St. Catharines have talked about the students going hungry because of this government not funding school nutrition programs. We’ve seen it in the London area as well. In London and Middlesex county, there’s a program, the Ontario Student Nutrition Program, which feeds 25,000 students at 89 schools weekly. They’ve seen an overall increase of 900 students and four schools over the previous academic year. Not only that, Danielle Findlay, who’s one of the organizers of the program, pegs the cost of a healthy snack around $2.50 per student. Do you know what the province pays, Speaker? Just 75 cents.

Just to conclude, I want to again, in the brief time I have, return to the words of David Moscrop, who says, “The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act should be thrown into the wastebin and forgotten, and the government should take its boot off the neck of local school boards. If the government wishes to improve education, it can spend more on teachers and reduce class sizes. That’s a fine way to make space for learning that will pay all sorts of dividends to a free and democratic society.”

Speaker, this ham-handed, lacklustre, ineffective way of addressing the crisis in our education system is shown in Bill 98. We need more mental health care workers in schools. We need to address violence in schools. For heaven’s sake, Speaker, Bill 98 does not mention violence once, and we know it is something that is happening everywhere.

It’s time for this government to put on its big-boy pants, and to do the right thing and fund education properly.

Madam Speaker, I’d like to thank my colleague from London North Centre for his contribution to today’s debate. The member mentioned failures around the ways this bill addresses consultation of students, labour and stakeholders. My question is this: What are some of the proper and ethical ways consultation can look like to you?

I’d like to begin my remarks by thanking Ontario’s Minister of Education and, of course, the parliamentary assistant to the minister for all the work that they’ve put into improving public education for hard-working families across the province.

I’m really pleased to have the opportunity to speak in support of this proposed legislation. Some of my colleagues across from the government benches will know that for a period of time I was the education critic for the official opposition during Kathleen Wynne’s Liberal government. I enjoyed that period of time because there was lots to criticize, lots to offer suggestions about, some of which have found their way into the bill that we’re debating today. That’s a good thing. That’s a very positive thing going forward.

After more than a decade and a half of the previous Liberal government, which closed over 600 schools—just stay with that figure; 600 schools—across our great province, and as part of closing those schools, one of the things they didn’t do is consult with the communities. Our deputy House leader is agreeing with that because she knows that. She was at Queen’s Park then. We know that there wasn’t a level of consultation—not one level—with hard-working families across the province on the closing of 600 schools and the effect of that on their local economies. Can you believe that? But that’s what happened.

There’s a difference with this government, isn’t there? There’s a difference with this government because we’re listening to parents and we’re investing $15 billion over 10 years to build new schools, some of which are in my riding; improve existing educational facilities; and, important for hard-working families, create new child care spaces.

I also commend the Minister of Education for taking action to ensure that Ontario schools like Willows Walk—and you’ll know where that is in Whitby; that’s just a little bit east of Anderson Street in Whitby—and Father Leo J. Austin in Whitby are safe and welcoming learning centres, as they should be for all students, and for updating the curriculum so it does a better job of matching to the needs of the modern economy and labour market.

But what does that mean, exactly? Well, it means more math, more science and a greater emphasis on lucrative and dignified careers in the skilled trades. I’m proud of this minister and this government for driving transformational change in public education. There’s no question, absolutely no question that this government is delivering for hard-working families in Whitby and across the province. Millions of dollars have been invested in Whitby to construct or refurbish new schools.

But there’s only so much you can accomplish without comprehensive and effective reforms. If passed, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023, would legislate reforms under four statutes: the Education Act, the Ontario College of Teachers Act, the Early Childhood Educators Act and the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001. This bill includes a number of critically important reforms, and we’re debating them today because parents and taxpayers deserve greater transparency and accountability and young people deserve better academic outcomes.

Speaker, our legislation is increasing accountability by giving parents new tools to navigate and understand the education system while establishing basic qualifications for directors of education. Additionally, the minister will now be able to establish key priorities to ensure students have the skills and knowledge they need, especially in areas such as reading, writing and math.

Our government’s legislation will enact over 20 key recommendations across five themed categories, including accountability and transparency; governance and leadership; maximizing capital assets; teacher training and oversight; and consistent information and approaches to student learning. You’ll know, Speaker, from your own practical experience before coming to Queen’s Park, the importance of all of what I just stated, understanding the impacts of these changes.

While the parents in Whitby are understandably interested primarily in how this bill will improve their children’s education at the grassroots level, I’d like to take some time to discuss some of the improvements our bill will make to governance and leadership within school boards.

Excuse me, Speaker. I’m just going to take a little bit of water.

I think we can all agree, particularly on this side of the House, and my members over there as well—