Madam Speaker, I thank you for the opportunity to rise in this chamber and offer my strong support for Bill 98, also known as the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act. I also want to thank the Minister of Education and his parliamentary assistant for the incredible work they’re doing to ensure our schools are inclusive and welcoming learning centres and the curriculum is relevant to the challenges of tomorrow.

Ontario’s curriculum, Madam Speaker, now includes a stronger focus on STEM learning and math, as well as instruction in financial literacy and greater access to training and work in the skilled trades.

After a decade when the previous Liberal government closed over 600 schools across the province and refused to listen to the concerns of parents, our government is investing approximately $15 billion over 10 years to build new schools, improve existing facilities and create new child care spaces. Since 2018, Speaker, our government has invested over $2.2 billion in education capital projects, including 100 new schools, 80 school additions and nearly 6,500 new licensed child care spaces.

I want to applaud the minister, who just this past May, for Asian Heritage Month, announced partnerships with the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto and the Tribute to Early Chinese Immigrants Canada Foundation for providing teachers and students with supplementary resources to encourage and facilitate a better understanding of Asian heritage, as well as the shameful Chinese exclusion act of 1923 and the Chinese head tax.

Speaker, it’s incredibly important that young people learn more about the incredible contributions of Asian Canadians, that we combat the anti-Asian racism in our schools. I’m proud of the Minister of Education for taking action.

Parents in Richmond Hill have told me that they strongly support public education because they want their kids to succeed in life, but Richmond Hill parents also believe that school boards have to be a lot more accountable and have to be a lot more transparent about the money that they spend and the results that they receive. I believe this is a very reasonable request, Speaker. I also believe it is fair to say that most school boards are doing a very good job managing their resources and educating our young people.

I say that, Speaker, for a simple reason: 89% of high school students graduate within five years. That’s an impressive figure. Speaker, it’s up from 85% just a few years ago. Unfortunately, there are about 15,000 students every year who do not graduate within five years.

Here’s the situation in a nutshell: Some boards are having trouble managing their resources and are even cutting front-line staff, despite the fact that we are providing them with record funding. That’s a significant problem, Speaker, but what’s worse, some boards are consistently underperforming when it comes to getting students to graduate high school within five years.

Speaker, I also want to add that I will be sharing my time with the member from Perth–Wellington.

The minister has been doing an incredible job of updating the curriculum, but the Ministry of Education is limited in its ability to drive and enforce provincial priorities through the schools. Moreover, many parents are rightfully frustrated because information about school board performance and the relationship between education spending and its ability to support education outcomes is not easily accessible to the public at large.

I have a lot of respect for elected school board trustees. They volunteer their time to ensure that school boards are focused on the students’ achievement and that resources are managed competently. Across the province, Speaker, about 700 elected trustees provide local government over a $27-billion education system. Yet trustees lack a consistent set of skills, training or a standard code of conduct, and the public has at times been distracted by disputes among trustees that are costly and time-consuming.

Back when he was a school board trustee with the Toronto District School Board in 2015, my honourable colleague the member for Spadina–Fort York had much to say on this subject to the Toronto Star: “I’m angry with trustees who, for the past year and a half engaged in feuds with each other, lobbing missiles through the media, thinking they were hurting only their opponents, but who were destroying the board’s reputation.”

Even worse, Speaker, many parents see their local school boards as big and impersonal bureaucracies and feel powerless to effect change when they aren’t satisfied with the education their kids are receiving. This is especially the case with new Canadians whose first language is not English. Some of them even worry that they might get into trouble if they voice an objection.

Clearly, Speaker, parents, students, taxpayers and everyone deserve some better accountability from their school boards, and that’s what the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act is all about.

I’m quite enthusiastic about the proposed handbook for parents that will spell out their rights and responsibilities regarding their children’s education. Our government strongly believes in empowering parents, and I’m sure that such a handbook will prove to be incredibly useful during parent-teacher conferences.

Speaker, this is what the Ontario Human Rights Commission recently had to say in a written submission regarding our legislation: “The commission supports the proposed improvements to transparency, communication and reporting through publicly posted board improvement plans, updated to parents twice a year.” I will add, Madam Speaker, that Bill 98, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, goes much further than mandating a handbook for parents.

School boards sit on the largest vertical real estate portfolio in the broader public school sector, with over 4,600 open or operating schools. Our legislation, if passed, would strengthen the ministry’s oversight over the use, sale and development of school board real estate, including the power to direct boards to establish a framework for surplus properties, along with the ability to direct a sale or sever a property.

Maximizing capital assets will help board student achievement as well achieve the effective, efficient and sustainable use of school board funding and property. In fact, Madam Speaker, this was one of the recommendations of the Drummond report that was commissioned by former Premier Dalton McGuinty: “Efficiency can also be found by maximizing the value of school board capital assets.... The minister should have the power to order the sale of unused properties, especially when such dispositions could meet other needs.”

Our legislation would also strengthen accountability over school board spending, including additional resources for financial investigations when needed, and require transparent reporting on school board spending and how it supports student outcomes.

The act will enable the minister to require school boards to report publicly against standardized categories of spending twice annually. It will strengthen the minister’s authority to direct and prohibit board participation in prescribed activities that could place the board at financial risk.

This act will allow for the appointment of professional corporations as investigators in board financial affairs when there’s distress.

Speaker, I have a lot more to share, but I would like to share this time with the member from Perth–Wellington. Thank you.

Schedule 3 of the bill deals with teachers who have been ordered to take a sexual abuse prevention program course. Schedule 3 of the bill says that a registrar cannot give a certificate to that teacher unless that teacher completes the sexual abuse prevention program requirements.

My question to the member is this: With regard to that specific provision, does she support it? Yes or no?

Thank you very much to the member from Ottawa West–Nepean. Your understanding of this issue is unparalleled. Thank you so much for highlighting the failures of the bill. This bill is truly arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. There’s a huge problem in our schools, and this government is focusing on blame when they’re not looking themselves in the mirror to understand that they are underfunding these schools. Instead, they’re going to strong-arm boards.

I received a message from Mr. Ed, who has been teaching in Hamilton for many, many years, who said, “Violence and safety of children and staff is an ongoing concern, with incidents occurring on a daily basis. Schools need more help for support for mental health and social-emotional needs, and we just don’t have them. We need smaller classes, more boots on the ground to work with these students and parents, and the problem seems to be getting worse. COVID definitely exacerbated that, and we need to get ahead of this before schools are in further crisis.”

I would add the schools are left holding the bag for COVID funding that the province is not making them whole for.

Can you say further to how this government has failed students in our schools in Ontario?

I’d like to thank the member from Ottawa West–Nepean for her excellent commentary on the state of education here within our province and how Bill 98 really misses the mark in terms of special education.

The former Liberal government patted themselves on the back for placing students with special needs inside of mainstream classrooms. They called it inclusion, but they didn’t provide the supports; from where we sit, that is abandonment. The utter neglect of children with special needs really has been continued under this government.

My question to the member: If this government truly cared for students with special needs, what improvements could they make to the funding formula to ensure that these children have the supports they require?

The member from Perth–Wellington.

Thank you to the members from Richmond Hill and Perth–Wellington for their comments.

A question about children’s mental health: There has been mental health counselling made available in schools, but the problem in my community and in other communities across Ontario is that it’s not connected to children’s mental health agencies. The mental health workers in schools are unsupervised, largely, and at the end of the school year, when the school year wraps up, the children who are receiving help have to be released back into the children’s mental health agency, so there is not a continuity there.

Why did the government not consult with local children’s mental health agencies to make sure that help was being provided efficiently?

Questions?

Thank you—

My question to the member is, what happens if parents disagree with a school or school board’s proposal on a grade retention, promotion and acceleration of their child? And how does this legislation help with these sometimes extremely difficult conversations?

I’m pleased to be here today to rise and speak about Bill 98, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023. I also want to thank the member for Ottawa West–Nepean for her exceptional and hard work on this bill.

It was very enlightening listening to the member speak today and demonstrate her significant expertise on this file. Her knowledge is also based on the fact that she has children in the school board system, so she can share her expertise and her personal experience with our school board system.

This bill was introduced at the same time as the Grants for Student Needs funding envelope was released for the year, and that’s deliberate. It is pretty typical for the government to present a bill with some ugly things and some good things in it at the same time as they’re presenting an announcement which has far bigger implications on the quality of the schooling that the children in Ontario receive. That’s what happened with Bill 97, a bill that I’ve been working on for some time, and it also happened with Bill 98.

The reason I want to talk about not just Bill 98 but also the larger issues with our school system is, when we’re thinking about how we want to improve the quality of education our kids receive, we need to talk about funding and we need to talk about what is actually happening in the classroom. There’s a big difference between what this government says—its rhetoric—and what is actually happening on the ground in schools and in classrooms across Ontario.

I think about what is happening with the Toronto District School Board, because that is an area I represent. I very carefully read the Toronto District School Board’s announcements. I’ve read their long-term growth and accommodation strategy that looks at where we are going to put our schools and whether our schools have the capacity to deal with the 30,000-plus students who will be enrolled. There will be an increase in enrolment of that amount in the coming years. I also look at how they’re preparing for the 2023-24 year, and from the school board’s perspective, from the parents’ perspective, from the teachers’ perspective, from the education workers’ perspective, it doesn’t look good. What we are hearing is that the TDSB is looking at cutting 522 staffing positions. At a time when we have had year after year after year after year of cuts, it’s another round of staffing position cuts.

Interjection.

Thank you to my colleague for this question. It is important and you are correct that a student’s education can provide a solid foundation for their future success.

Our government is making historic investments in Ontario schools by providing $27.6 million for public education in 2023-24. In addition, the Ministry of Education is also providing $180 million in 2023-24 for math and reading supports for Ontario students in our classrooms and at home. We also have the previous $200-million investment—we supported students—for a four-year math strategy.

It is important that boards have a unified focus on student success. That is why we see and we stress the achievement of the students, and prioritizing development in reading, writing and math is so important. We will work together with them to strengthen this.

My question to the government members: Let’s be clear, this bill is a straight-up power grab. You’re bigfooting local school boards and parents and concentrating power here at Queen’s Park. Clearly, Conservatives love big government when you’re in power.

It’s also a land grab. Who would be surprised that this government that sold off our greenbelt would be grabbing all of the assets of local school boards?

What this bill is not about is empowering parents. Speaker, you will know this, as a member of the committee: The two members from Richmond Hill and Perth–Wellington who spoke here today voted against every amendment at committee, including amendments that would ensure Franco-Ontarians had rights under the charter.

Interjection.

You also voted against every amendment to ensure disability rights for kids in our schools. Why did you do this?

Interjection.

I’d like to thank the members from Perth–Wellington and Richmond Hill for their presentation.

Learning disruptions and violence are becoming normalized across Ontario schools because the Ford government blatantly refuses to address this issue. School violence was not mentioned in their 2023 budget. School violence was not addressed in Bill 98. Students have been pleading for support. Educators have brought these concerns forward. In fact, one in two educators—more than 50% of educators—have reported violence that they have witnessed in the classroom.

When will this government address the violence that is holding children back and holding their education hostage?

The member for Perth–Wellington.

The member for Newmarket–Aurora.

Interjections.

Further debate?

My question is for the member from Richmond Hill. Student success is important to all Ontarians. I know all members agree that students need to be given every opportunity to learn so they can enter the workforce ready to succeed, whether they choose university, college, a trade or another path.

Recently, our government announced that, starting with students entering grade 9 in September of 2024, all students will now be required to earn a grade 9 or 10 technical education credit as part of their Ontario secondary school diploma. This is just one example of how our government supports students. I’m wondering if the member can tell us how this bill goes further to support student learning.

Thank you to the member opposite for the important question—a very important question. As we all know, especially coming out of the pandemic, mental health is more of a need and a priority as well. Under the Minister of Education, as I mentioned earlier in the debate, we’ve increased to historic levels of mental health funding. It also is a government-wide approach. I know that the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and the Minister of Health herself are looking at mental health, those aspects, within our school system. I know in some areas of the province the family health teams will go into the schools with a mental health practitioner they may have on their team to ensure that there is that oversight and that support within our larger health care system and within the community.

Speaker, our government is focused on getting schools built and updated. Some $15 billion over 10 years, as I mentioned earlier in the debate, for school capital development. One of the first things going into my role as PA to education after the last election was learning how much—I didn’t realize, as a layman—education oversees the real estate portfolio it oversees.

And it’s getting more schools built, which is a change from the previous Liberal government, and ensuring that those schools are built quickly as well and ensuring that those resources are used to the maximum efficiency.

Speaker, I find it very rich from the members opposite, talking about big government when that party supports, essentially, communism.

Yes. And there’s inflation too. Your budget went up. Your global budget went up, didn’t it? It’s inflation too.

Interjection.

There were 522 staffing positions that were cut. I get calls from parents, from vice-principals, from principals, from education workers about what these cuts actually mean on the ground. We’re hearing from schools like Palmerston, Clinton, Lord Lansdowne and da Vinci, and they’re losing vice-principals; they’re losing teachers who are specifically dedicated to do one-on-one reading help with kids who are falling behind in grades 1 and 2 and 3—those critical years when you need kids to catch up. We are also hearing from parents whose kids have special needs—kids who have autism; kids who need an extra educational assistant in the classroom to ensure that they can focus, that they can learn, that their behaviour is managed so that they’re not a big disruption in the classroom, so that every child can learn. What they’re also finding is that there are not enough educational assistants available in schools to provide that one-on-one support, that extra support in a classroom so that a teacher can do their job, kids can learn and the classroom functions well. They’re not there.

The Ontario Autism Coalition just did a survey which asked parents, “How many times is your kid denied access to school because there’s no educational assistant or extra support available to help your kid in the classroom?” The unfortunate reality today is that there are parents who wake up in the morning at 8 o’clock and they get a call from their school saying, “There’s not enough staffing supports in the school for your kid to go to school today, so you’re going to have to rearrange your schedule, because there’s no school available for your kid.” That’s what’s happening in Ontario in 2023, and it’s a direct result of funding cuts that have been brought on by the Conservative government. I think that’s a real shame.

If I had to describe this bill, I would call it meek. It is really smoke and mirrors. It doesn’t address the urgent needs in our educational system. It really doubles down on the Conservatives’ chronic underinvestment in our education system. It does nothing to address the overcrowded classrooms, the lack of specialized learning programs and the mental health needs of our students. It does nothing to address that, which I think is a real shame.

And what it does seem be very interested in, this bill, is taking power away from school boards to control properties and putting it in the hands of the Conservative government, specific ministries, who can then sell off lands to whoever they wish. Sure, there is a process; it must go to another school board first or be offered to them, but then it’s really opaque what the rules are, essentially, after that, and this is happening at a time when the Conservatives are selling off public land to the highest bidder in secret deals where there’s no requirement for that land to be developed in a way that would help the public. There’s no requirement to build affordable housing. There’s no community benefit. There’s no requirement to have good union jobs on-site so we can provide good jobs to people in Ontario. There’s no requirement for that.

And when I read Bill 98, what makes me worried is the Conservatives are potentially opening the door to allow the sale of school board properties to for-profit developers to build housing. And who’s going to be impacted by that, and who’s going to be neglected by that decision is our future students. The reason why our future students are going to be negatively impacted by that is because all school boards, including the Toronto District School Board, have been sounding the alarm right now and they’re saying very clearly, “We’re worried about our school board’s capacity to provide the classroom space that is needed to meet the growing enrolment projections—we’re worried about it.” The TDSB is worried about it. Other school boards are worried about it, and they fear, understandably, that school properties are going to be sold off without adequate consideration about what is needed to meet our school capacity in our future.

The reason why I say this is because our province is expected to grow. Ontario is expected to build 1.5 million new homes over the next 10 years; that’s the target. In Toronto, we have a target of building 285,000 new homes, which will lead to a projected increase of 30,000 new kids into the school board system, and the TDSB already has an issue right now with overcrowding.

The member for Eglinton–Lawrence should know that around the area of Eglinton and Yonge, there are schools that don’t have the capacity to meet enrolment right now, and unfortunately, that’s largely to do with the Conservatives having a very Wild West approach to development, where development occurs based on where developers want to build and where they can get approvals. There’s no serious thought given into what kind of services current and new residents need in order to meet the needs and grow our city and make it a livable city. So what we’re seeing is highly concentrated growth in some areas and no schools, or inadequate schools, available to accommodate the new kids that are coming in. This is happening in my riding of University–Rosedale. It’s happening in Toronto–St. Paul’s. It’s happening in Parkdale–High Park, and it’s happening in a very acute way in the member for Spadina–Fort York’s riding where his riding has 140,000 people, one of the largest ridings in Ontario, and it’s growing extremely rapidly, yet the riding only has three schools—only three schools, for 140,000 people. It’s unregulated, it’s the Wild West, it’s disorganized, and I fear that Bill 98 is going to make it even easier for the Conservatives to say, “Oh, we’re under capacity over here. We’re just going to sell off those schools, build big on them and not think about what we need around future capacity.” I have some concerns about that.

I also have a lot of concerns around the failure of the Conservatives to address some of the biggest issues that we are experiencing in our schools today. One of the biggest issues that we’re hearing about is the pervasiveness of violence in our school system. A recent report came out from the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario. It was disturbing to read, and it showed that "an alarming ... 77%" of members, 77% of teachers who filled in this survey, “say they have personally experienced violence or witnessed violence against another staff member.”

I’m going to quote: “Learning is being disrupted and violence is being normalized in schools because the” Conservatives refuse “to adequately invest in public education.” I see nothing in Bill 98 that is going to deal with this issue—nothing in it. “The system is suffering from chronic underfunding, under-resourcing, and understaffing, creating environments where student needs are going unmet.” That’s the reality of it, and I’m not seeing much in Bill 98 that addresses those fundamental issues.

When a kid is dropped off by their parents in the morning, they go in through the front door and they go into their classroom, there’s really not a lot in Bill 98 that is going to ensure they have a good day, a safe day, where they’re not going to be bullied or harassed; where the teacher and the educational assistant have time for them; where they meet their learning outcomes; where they have a good day where they’re safe, loved, well cared for and they can reach their full potential. I’m not seeing a lot in Bill 98 that’s going to allow us to achieve those goals and help the million-plus kids in Ontario have a good day at school. I’m just not.

I’m going to go back to what ETFO said, because this is really about what’s happening in the classroom. What this survey found is that:

“—Educators working with younger students are more likely to experience violence.

“—Eighty-six per cent of ETFO members who work in special education have personally experienced violence or witnessed it against another staff person.”

The reason why I bring up that issue is because it really gets to the failure of this government to address the huge staffing shortages we are experiencing in classrooms that need extra educational assistants, that need extra support workers, because they’re dealing with kids who have mental health challenges, who have a tough time, who have learning needs and need that extra support. They’re not setting teachers or a classroom up for success.

From the survey:

“—More than 80 per cent agree that violence in schools is making working with students more difficult and that it interferes with classroom management”—also not addressed with Bill 98.

“—Administrators know that violence is a problem, but do not always act on reports of violence.

“—Forty-two per cent of members have suffered a physical injury, illness or psychological injury/illness as a result of workplace violence against them this school year.”

These are really troubling statistics—very troubling statistics.

I want to look at what the TDSB had to say about Bill 98. The member for Ottawa West–Nepean reached out to unions, stakeholders, education workers to find out who the Conservatives consulted before introducing this bill. They didn’t consult with teachers. They didn’t consult with parents. They just came out with a bill; no consultation in advance.

This is what the Toronto school board had to say: “With regard to the ministry’s move to gain greater control over TDSB property through the ability to direct the sale, lease or disposal of school sites”—

Good morning, Speaker. I’d like to start my member statement today by welcoming three paramedics from Halton paramedic services, who are with us today in the members’ gallery: Tom Stirling, deputy chief and manager of operations; Cassandra Lee; and Marlee Weinerman.

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending Halton region’s Paramedic Day. Each year, Halton paramedic services responds to over 55,000 calls and transports 35,000 patients through 15 strategically placed ambulance stations. Paramedics are truly unsung heroes in times of crisis, making split-second decisions that can save lives. They are often the first to arrive at the scene, risking their own safety to provide immediate care to those in need.

In recognition of their bravery, the Ontario government recently introduced the Ontario Medal for Paramedic Bravery to recognize paramedics who have demonstrated great bravery in the line of duty.

Recognizing the importance of paramedics in our health care system, our government recently expanded the Learn and Stay grant to include paramedic programs in priority communities. Eligible students will now receive full, upfront funding for tuition, books and other direct educational costs in return for working and caring for people in the region where they studied for a term of service after they graduate.

Thank you to all paramedics for your service, and thank you to Halton paramedic services for coming out today.

My apologies. I must interrupt the member from University–Rosedale.

Third reading debate deemed adjourned.

Last Thursday, I had the privilege of speaking at a joint celebration of Jewish and Filipino heritage months held by B’nai Brith Canada and the Filipino Heritage Month Society. The event was held on June 1 to mark the transition from Jewish Heritage Month, which is held in May, to Filipino Heritage Month, which is held in June. Attendees included the Philippines’s ambassador to Canada, the former Philippine ambassador to Israel, members of various levels of government, senators and Irwin Cotler, who works to oppose anti-Semitism and human rights violations of all kinds.

I gained new insight into the actions of former Filipino President Manuel L. Quezon, whose open-door policy in 1937 allowed 1,200 Jews who were fleeing the Holocaust to seek refuge in the Philippines. President Quezon made this heroic decision at a time when Canada and other nations had closed their doors to Jewish refugees.

Several speakers described the Jewish community in the Philippines—they still have this Jewish community based on the ones who came during the Holocaust. This is a lesson to all of us on the importance of compassion and respect for others.

My riding of Eglinton–Lawrence is home to large Jewish and Filipino communities. The event celebrated their joint heritage and emphasis on family, community and faith.

So let me say, mabuhay shalom to all celebrating Jewish Heritage Month, which has just passed, and Filipino Heritage Month, which is coming.