On behalf of the official opposition, I’d like to welcome our guests from the Ontario Autism Coalition, including Kate Dudley-Logue, vice president; Steve Legault, an Ottawa parent; Sandra Huh; Karen Bojti and Michau van Speyk, along with former MPP Cheri DiNovo and Trustee Curtis Jordan from the Upper Canada District School Board, who is the first autistic individual elected to a school board in Ontario’s history. Welcome.

Thank you to the MPP from Scarborough Centre for asking this very important question. National accessibility awareness week is very important to this government and to me personally. Thanks to the leadership of the Minister of Labour, we are announcing over $4 million to the Skills Development Fund this week. This marvellous fund will support local organizations like the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and the Geneva Centre for Autism. They make sure people with disabilities have the right programs and services to find meaningful training and jobs.

Join us in celebrating those who are making this province more accessible and inclusive for everyone.

Last week, a letter from a teacher warned that students and staff at Tomken Road Middle School do not feel safe going to school. Tomken Road is far from alone. Violence in our schools is reaching a crisis level, but instead of investing in mental health supports and additional staff, this government offers nothing but platitudes. In fact, school boards are being forced to cut safety monitors and child and youth workers.

What will it take for the Premier to finally make the investments needed to keep students and workers in our schools safe?

Every day, students with autism and disabilities are being excluded from our schools, because the supports are not there to keep them safe at school. We did a survey of parents which shows only a small snapshot of the problem, and shows that at least 78 kids with special needs missed out on more than 555 hours of school in just the past two weeks.

Knowing the extent of the problem is the first step to fixing it. Will the government finally listen to parents, like the parents from the Ontario Autism Coalition, and finally track and publicly report on all exclusions in our schools?