Good morning. Let us pray.

Prières / Prayers.

Resuming the debate adjourned on June 7, 2023, on the motion for third reading of the following bill:

Bill 98, An Act to amend various Acts relating to education and child care / Projet de loi 98, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne l’éducation et la garde d’enfants.

This morning I’d like to share my time with the member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke. I’d like to begin my remarks by thanking Ontario’s Minister of Education and the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Education for putting families first and taking action to prepare our kids for the challenges of today and tomorrow.

The minister is doing an admirable job. I can’t tell you how well he is received in my riding every time he comes. More importantly, the deep work, the updating of the curriculum so that it more closely matches the needs of the labour market—this is what I’ve heard from employers in the Windsor area and across Ontario, that this is something that has been in short supply for many years and getting that linking back is imperative for Ontario’s success.

There is certainly no question that this government is delivering for the hard-working families in Windsor–Tecumseh and across the province. But as my honourable colleagues know all too well, there is only so much that you can accomplish without enacting new legislation.

If passed, Bill 98, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023, would legislate reforms under four statutes. This bill includes several critically important reforms. We’re debating them today because parents and taxpayers deserve greater transparency and accountability and young people deserve better academic support and outcomes.

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 the knowledge that they need, especially in areas such as reading, writing and math.

In recent weeks a number of organizations have provided this chamber with written submissions regarding Bill 98. In my role as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, I am very familiar with the excellent work of Skills Ontario helping to drive our prosperity in the province. This is what Skills Ontario had to say about Bill 98:

“Empowering the minister to establish policies and procedures for the training of board members, directors of education, supervisory officers and superintendents is crucial for maintaining a high standard of governance and leadership in our education system.

“The provision in Bill 98 that allows the minister to require school boards to make their reports available to the public in an appropriate manner is a commendable step toward promoting transparency and accountability.”

Speaker, that sounds like outright support to me.

I’d like to take a few minutes to do a deeper dive and really discuss some of the improvements that our bill will make to governance and leadership within school boards. I know it’s not unique to any given area, but disputes among school board trustees are costly and time-consuming. They erode public confidence and deflect attention away from their primary duties of promoting student achievement. I find these trustee disputes to be frustrating and almost always irrelevant to promoting the education that our students need.

The Ontario Federation of Homes and Schools Association says it “welcomes the announcement of the ‘Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act’ by the government of Ontario. OFHSA is encouraged that the proposed legislation puts students first and echoes the concerns of association members.”

Speaker, the big-picture situation is that approximately 700 trustees provide governance over a high-profile, high-impact $27-billion education system. And like my past colleagues in municipal government, the trustees that we elect come from diverse backgrounds, which means that we don’t have a consistent set of skills, training, or even a standard code of conduct.

I actually want to highlight the great work of the member for London West during her time as a trustee with the Thames Valley District School Board. Back in 2009, she and several other members of a governance review committee submitted a report to the then education minister that called for the minister to establish a minimum code of conduct for trustees. Elected trustees perform an incredibly valuable service to parents and taxpayers by holding school boards accountable and ensuring that tax dollars are well spent. As an elected official, I’m always learning, even now that I’m in year 9. Trustees can always benefit from new knowledge and skills to perform their duties and to ensure that conduct is held to provincial standards.

Speaker, the vast majority of trustees are diligent public servants who care about education and the families they represent. In the last couple of weeks, I’ve had the chance to meet so many of my local school board trustees from all boards. It’s been an incredible experience getting to hear what they have to say and the recommendations for improvement. But in recent years, the media has reported numerous incidents of trustees who have treated parents and fellow trustees less than respectfully and have even said some things that have been completely unacceptable.

A few bad apples, Speaker, can spoil the public’s perception of the deeply important job that trustees perform every day. And this has been the case for a very long time.

The Ontario Ombudsman, Paul Dubé, says, “I commend Bill 98’s goal of strengthening school board oversight for the benefit of Ontario’s public education system. Robust codes of conduct and integrity commissioner processes play a vital role in ensuring public confidence in elected school board officials.”

If passed, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act would tackle this problem head-on. Our legislation would amend the Education Act to require mandatory standardized training for trustees, as prescribed by the minister, create a standardized code of conduct binding on all trustees and set clear expectations of how trustees should discharge their duties. Our legislation would establish a clear and impartial process for resolving trustee code of conduct complaints that requires boards to use the services of an integrity commissioner who must be drawn from a provincial roster approved by the minister. That integrity commissioner, Speaker, would be empowered to conduct investigations, dismiss complaints made in bad faith and determine whether the code of conduct has been breached.

The integrity commissioner would be further empowered to impose binding sanctions, including new and existing sanctions when a breach is found, including the suspension of honoraria up to a prescribed amount or the suspension of trustee privileges. Additionally, the integrity commissioner would be empowered to recommend to the board that a trustee be barred from attending one or more board meetings and any other reasonable or appropriate sanction based on local circumstances.

Our government understands that everyone makes mistakes, Speaker. I can tell you that during my municipal career, I frequently sought the guidance of the integrity commissioner for my municipality on a number of issues. They are a trusted counsel, they give great advice, and I know that this role is one that the school boards can drive a lot of value from.

My colleagues can rest assured that the school board, or the member whose conduct was the subject of the complaint, would be allowed to appeal the integrity commissioner decision and/or any imposed sanctions to a panel of integrity commissioners. Our legislation would also ensure that there are appropriate transition provisions to limit disruptions and maintain fairness for ongoing disputes, all the while respecting freedom of speech.

I’m pleased to add, Speaker, that the governance and leadership reforms contained within the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act goes beyond standardizing codes of conduct for trustees. Our legislation would ensure that every director of education has the skills and competencies necessary to discharge their role. They’re the chief executive of the school board and they must deliver on provincial priorities by establishing minimum qualification requirements that must be met to be selected for the position.

Managing a school board is an important responsibility, Speaker. It makes sense to ensure that directors of education are qualified with particular credentials to perform that job, because accountability starts at the top. Good governance and strong board leadership are essential for positive student outcomes. That’s why we must pass the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act. The stakes could not be higher.

The province is facing a major shortage of skilled labour at a time that 40% of jobs in Canada are at high risk of getting disrupted by technology. This is something we need to address immediately. We need to get public education firing on all cylinders, and we can’t afford to allow the education system to get sidetracked.

In the meantime, I’m proud to say that our government is delivering the largest tutoring program in Ontario’s history, funding substantial student mental health supports, building new schools after a decade of school closures, including many in my own riding, and modernizing the curriculum to better prepare our young people for the jobs of tomorrow. We’re getting the job done.

I’ll pass the remainder of the time to the member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke.

Good morning, Speaker, on our last day of the Legislature before the summer session.

In between Toronto and Hamilton, Oakville is a hidden gem, rich in history, vibrant with natural beauty and bursting with adventure. As summer approaches, I rise in this House to highlight some exciting events taking place in my community over the summer:

Every Friday is jazz night in the summer, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Towne Square in downtown Oakville.

This Sunday, June 11, the Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton annual spring concert is being held at the Queen Elizabeth Park Community and Cultural Centre.

After four long years, the Annual Mayor’s Picnic is back, taking place on Sunday, June 11, from 12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Lakeside Park. It will be an afternoon filled with lots of fun family things to do, including face-painting, children’s games, balloons and, new this year, a model train set-up.

The 2023 Oakville Film Festival is running from June 21 to 27. Celebrating a decade of diverse cinema, the festival has showcased hundreds of films of all genres, appealing to a wide range of audiences.

Canada Day returns to Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park on July 1. Enjoy an evening of free performances, family fun and, of course, fireworks.

And be sure to mark your calendars for the last weekend in July, July 28 to 30, as Oakville’s largest outdoor event comes back with the annual Oakville Family Ribfest at beautiful Sheridan College.

Speaker, I invite everyone to bring their families for a staycation in beautiful Oakville this summer. I wish everyone all the best for a great summer.

I want to thank the member from Windsor–Tecumseh for sharing his time with me, and I want to thank the Honourable Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. From the moment he got here, even before he was the minister, he has been focused on one thing: making Ontario better. And in the education system, for him, it was ensuring that everything we did as a government had one goal in mind and that is to prepare our students in a better way for the future and what the future is going to bring.

We know we live in a tremendously changing world. I can remember when I was in school; I’m sure there are some teachers that try to forget. Having said that, it was mandatory to attend, so from time to time, I did show up. But I was also around when our children went through the school system, and now our grandchildren.

What I saw when I came here in 2003 was I saw the former Liberal government dissatisfied with the data that was coming from our schools with regard to student achievement. That a fair assessment. But what did they do? You see, here’s the difference, Speaker: On this side of the House, we take our direction from the parents of children when it comes to our education system. The people who have their children in the system are the best evaluators of the system itself. They understand what their children need and they understand if the system isn’t delivering it.

So when we got here in 2003, do you know what the Liberal Party’s and the Liberal government’s answer was to lower-than-desired test scores in our school system? You would think that if your problem is lower-than-desired test scores—do you know what you’re going to do? You’re going to say, “We need to do something to increase those test scores, so we’ve got to look at what we’re doing, what we’re delivering, and how we’re delivering it to those students.” In fact, they did do that, but their answer wasn’t to enrich and strengthen the curriculum so that our test scores were more in line with other jurisdictions. Do you know what the Liberals’ answer was? It was—they got their direction from the leaders of the teachers’ union. I say that because our daughter is a teacher and two of our daughters-in-law are teachers, but you know where the direction comes from: It comes from those people at the top of the scale, the leadership. And the direction from them was, “Well, water down the curriculum, make it easier and then the test scores will go up.”

Well, they did. If you determine that the race that used to be a mile was 5,280 feet and you say quietly, “We’re going to make a mile 4,740 feet,” do you know what? Those people who are running the mile are going to say, “Man, I’ll tell you, those times are good.” But you are not running the same mile.

When we got here, we realized something had to change. I’m going to tell you, in spite of the rhetoric coming from the other side, the attacks coming from the other side, Minister Lecce has stood there like a strong oak tree, focused on what we are going to deliver for the people of Ontario and their children: a better education system that prepares them for the world of tomorrow. The students who are in that system today—it’s not just about today. We know it’s about tomorrow.

Ladies and gentlemen, you talk about that oak tree standing stiff in the wind and not bending, not breaking, and then what happens? The minister gets faced with something that nobody saw coming, this COVID-19 pandemic that threw everything into chaos. But what did we do? We managed our school system. We took the children out of school when it was absolutely necessary, but as soon as possible to the benefit of them and to our system and everybody’s mental health and everything else, we’ve got them back in the class. When the medical people agreed that it was safe to do so, we got them back in the class.

Now we are faced with new challenges. Part of that is student achievement. Again, it has to be addressed. I talk to parents and I also talk to teachers and they say themselves that they can’t believe what’s going on sometimes in our school system. They really can’t believe that what we are doing today is challenging. We have wonderful students. We have 12 grandchildren. Obviously, I’m going to speak highly of them. But look at this group of pages here. You want to talk about the cream of the crop? The folks who come here, the young children who come here—not young children; I guess they’re middle children—come here to serve us as pages.

One of my brothers—my youngest brother, Konrad—was born in 1965. He was a page here in 1978. But the cream of crop is those children who come here as pages. I absolutely guarantee you—and I haven’t asked a single one of them this question—they want to be challenged in life. Because they want to make sure that when the stuff hits the fan, as they say, they are able to face it. We need to make sure that our school system is focusing on those needs. This focus on STEM in the school system today that Minister Lecce said is absolutely vital if we’re going to prepare the students for tomorrow: That’s what we are focusing on.

Now he is looking at other issues in our school system. One of the issues is governance and consistency. If you don’t have consistency, you’ve got a problem, because it’s like what’s good for the goose is not good for the gander. You know the old saying, “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”? Well, we just have the situation in Ontario where we don’t have consistency; Minister Lecce is going to take care of it.

I see his parliamentary assistant here today as well. I know that MPP Barnes is maybe not listening closely to me, but she’s certainty listening to this entire debate, and she’s listening to parents across this province and what they want to see. Because if you’re a parent, what do you care about most? What do you care about most? As a parent and a grandparent, I know what you care about most: You care about your children. So what are you going to do? You’re going to do everything you can to do the best—you want their lives to be better. I know that my father wanted my life to be better than his. It wasn’t hard for mine to be better; I didn’t have to go fight a world war. But I also want my children’s life to be better than mine, and I want our grandchildren’s to be better yet. What do we do to make sure that happens? We make sure we start out with the right basis, with the foundation.

We talk about what’s important in this world and what’s important for us to deliver as a government, you know that right off the top it’s going to be health care. If you don’t have your health, you’ve got nothing. I don’t care if you’re a gazillionaire, if you haven’t got your health, you haven’t got anything. But what comes next is our education system, because our education system—I’ll be gone some day. Some people will be happy. I’ll be gone some day; every one of us in here will be gone some day. But the world is going to carry on, and we’ve got to make sure that the people who we have in charge of that world have been prepared in the best way possible, and a successful, challenging, top-notch education system is the way to go. We have the minister to do it.

On that, I would say, I move that the question be put.

When it comes to members’ statements, I generally wait for the spirit to move me about what I’m going to talk about. Yesterday, I was in estimates and the Attorney General was speaking about bail vetters and intensive bail supervision, and it had me thinking about being a crown attorney, being a crown prosecutor. To be honest, it made me feel rather sad and maudlin.

When I was a crown, I viewed it very much as almost a calling, an honour. I thought we haven’t had a shout-out for crown attorneys in this chamber recently. When it comes to the legal profession and the profession of being a crown, there really is nobody else that deserves it to the extent that crown attorneys do.

I’ve described crowns as being the first responders of the legal world. When we talk about fire, police or paramedics, there’s a lot of conversation about the trauma they see—PTSD—but the crowns don’t get that. Crowns have to see terrible images. They have to deal with human suffering every single day. They deal with it in a very personal and direct fashion. They are some of the hardest-working people I know.

It’s a job that never ends, I say. With doctors, at least nobody expects you to operate at home on your kitchen table at 2 o’clock in the morning. But with crowns, they do. Increasingly, in today’s justice system, we’re the ones who are having to explain to people why justice doesn’t look the way they thought, why being a victim doesn’t feel the way they thought, and the pressure that puts on us is incredible.

So I want to thank all of the crown prosecutors out there who are doing an incredible job.

On a point of order, Madam Speaker: Pursuant to standing order 7, I wish to inform the House that tonight’s evening meeting is cancelled.

No further business.

Further debate?

All those in favour of the motion that the question be now put, please say “aye.”

All those opposed to the motion that the question be now put, please say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

A recorded vote being required, this vote will be deferred until after question period today.

Vote deferred.

Ms. Ghamari moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr18, An Act to revive 2253697 Ontario Inc.

Second reading agreed to.

Ms. Ghamari moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill Pr18, An Act to revive 2253697 Ontario Inc.

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

The House recessed from 0925 to 1015.

As the school year comes to a close, I’d like to reflect on a recurring issue my office has heard from parents, teachers and school board staff. That issue? Staffing and resource shortages in our schools.

Recently, my office heard from a mom whose child is struggling with a bullying issue at school. Jacob is a first-grader and is facing problems with another first grader. The mother has tried various avenues for resolution, but the crux of the issue appears to be lack of support in the classroom and a systemic EA shortage. Jacob is hurt, physically and emotionally. He is confused and afraid. I can’t speak for the other child in this case, but I would assume he also feels forgotten and in need of support.

I have also heard from representatives of our local school board, and they have identified the same issues with staffing shortages. The Thames Valley District School Board reported a $5.4-million increase in expenses for special education for the coming year, leaving them with a $3.4-million deficit for special education expenses alone, and there are other deficits across the board for operating costs.

The independent Financial Accountability Officer recently revealed that the government withheld $844 million earmarked for education at a time when school boards are facing significant funding deficits. The government needs to provide proper funding now and ensure appropriate staff levels at schools across the province so children like Jacob are not left behind.

Critical metals, like cobalt, lithium and nickel, go into batteries. Rare earths like dysprosium, neodymium and praseodymium go into electric vehicle motors and wind turbines. Recycling these critical materials is a strategy which would give Ontario workers a shortcut into the value chain between the mine and EV.

Right now, rare earths mining and processing is led by China, which also dominates in other critical minerals such as graphite. Australia and South America are leading sources of lithium. Indonesia leads in nickel, but much of this is controlled by Chinese companies, as well.

In the future, for economic, environmental and security reasons, a circular economy must develop for critical materials.

Today, production of critical metals and rare earths involves value-added work in chemical processing, and it is performed offshore. However, Ontario is amongst the global leaders in technology to recycle critical metals and minerals.

To maximize the economic benefit to you and me of EV and battery production in Ontario—production for which the federal and Ontario governments have agreed to pay dearly—I believe we must be a first mover and leader in the cyclic economy for critical materials. This means supporting the ecosystem around critical minerals processing and recycling before other regions in North America begin to dominate.

Last month, I had the sincere privilege of joining the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies, who hosted the Ontario Engineering Project Awards, which was the 20th holding of that event. I’m very proud to recognize a winner from my riding of Windsor–Tecumseh: the sewer and coastal flood protection master plan. It was certainly a privilege to join Stacey McGuire, Ryan Langlois and Laura Herlehy of Dillon Consulting and the city of Windsor as they accepted the award.

Also recognized were:

—BBA’s Great Adventure onboarding program;

—Tulloch Engineering’s Hockey Night in Huntsville;

—Dillon’s Collins Creek wildlife mitigation project;

—Lea Consulting’s water management plan by site 46X-0176/BO;

—Hatch’s process gas project and particulate emissions project, Sudbury smelter—this one was led by my former classmate from the University of Ottawa, Benoit Paillé;

—Entuitive for its Port Lands bridges project;

—Eramosa Engineering for its mine remediation cloud SCADA integration;

—J.L. Richards for its Manotick watermain link, phase 1, and North Island watermain link;

—Hatch for the Kingston Third Crossing;

—Eramosa Engineering’s electrical power studies and arc flash models for multiple waste water facilities;

—McIntosh Perry for the Ducks Unlimited project inspections for 250 sites in Ontario;

—R.V. Anderson for Central Bridge replacement and additional works;

—R.J. Burnside for the Godey water supply project; and

—AECOM Canada for the Ontario Line immersive sound studio.

To all my engineering colleagues who are awardees this year: Thank you. You’ve made our profession proud.

Obviously, our hearts and our best wishes go out to the member from St. Paul’s, to her and her family, and we wish her all the very best.

It’s a pleasure to rise and share a wonderful local event in my riding with the Legislature this morning. Speaker, the Rosy Rhubarb Festival begins this weekend in the lovely town of Shedden, Ontario.

The Rosy Rhubarb Festival was founded over 25 years ago to promote the small-town community of Shedden and raise money for a new community centre. The festival is always held on the second weekend of June, when the rhubarb ripens and is ready to become tasty treats for all to enjoy. To date, the festival has raised over $1.2 million to help support local community initiatives, including a local community centre. These funds have been used to construct a picnic pavilion, purchase playground equipment, and build a new library in the village.

It is enjoyable to see Shedden come together for some good old-fashioned country fun at the start of every summer. Vendors, artisans, food trucks and businesses fill the fairgrounds. All have fun. Rhubarb baking contests, country music, dancing, face painting, petting zoos and a Sunday car show are all part of the festivities. However, the best part is obviously tasting the renowned rhubarb pies and rhubarb sauce with ice cream.

I invite all members of this House, along with your families, to attend the festival this weekend and enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of southwestern Ontario.

Minden’s local hospital closed on June 1 due to a staffing shortage and despite overwhelming opposition from the local community. Minden is far from alone. Lanark county, Guelph, Hamilton, Perth, Grand River, Windsor, Alexandria, Wingham, Thessalon, Kemptville, Seaforth, Ottawa, Bowmanville, Clinton, Orangeville, Carleton Place, Essex county, Kingston, Waterloo, Credit Valley, Smiths Falls, London, Chesley, Fort Erie, Port Colborne—all communities that have seen either no ambulances available or the closure of hospital services in the last year due to staffing shortages.

The staffing crisis continues in our health care system, and the government still refuses to repeal Bill 124 that suppresses the wages of health care workers. At the same time, staffing agencies like Canadian Health Labs are convincing hundreds of health care workers to leave their workplaces by offering them double the salaries they normally earn. The company made $154 million from just 500 nurses and PSWs they hired out of our public health systems. Their plan is to hire as many as 5,000 people. These agencies take health care workers out from the public system and sell them back at huge profits.

This is the systemic destruction of our public health care system, and we the public end up paying way more for declining services. I can only think this is happening due to the Conservative agenda to undermine the public health care system, because no one can be so incompetent to not see the damage these policies are creating.

Good morning, Speaker. It feels really good to be here in the Legislature today.

My mother has been hospitalized for almost two months, and I’ve been able to be right by her side—I promised I wouldn’t cry—as her primary caregiver, thanks to the support of the leader of the official opposition and my Ontario NDP colleagues. Thank you.

I want to thank my staff for their support, as well as other staff who have reached out. I want to thank other members, including government members who also shared their concern. I won’t ever forget it.

Over the last several weeks, my mother has been cared for by dozens of hard-working doctors, specialists, nurses, OTs, PTs and PSWs. I can’t thank them enough. Only about 10 days ago, after hundreds of vials of bloodwork, tests, consultations and two biopsies, we got a diagnosis: neurosarcoidosis, a rare autoimmune-related multi-systemic disease that involves inflammation of the brain, spinal cord, meninges, cranial and peripheral nerves. It attacks the central nervous system. This disease has no cure, but remission might be possible. I have seen it ravage my mother’s body and brain and mind and strip her of her independence, but she is a fighter.

Thank you to the Speaker for giving me a few extra moments.

The treatment for this disease is incredibly difficult on the body with its own laundry list of complications, some of which can be life-threatening.

I want to thank countless constituents in my community of St. Paul’s across party lines for their love and support, phone calls and text messages.

I especially want to show gratitude to our local faith leaders and many congregation members at St. Michael and All Angels, St. Matthew’s, Holy Blossom, Verity Centre for Better Living, previous pastors from MCC Toronto, and right here at the Legislature, Charlie the chaplain, for their consistent shoulder and faith when I’ve had none.

To my chosen family, family members, dear former caucus members and education colleagues and friends, my mom’s friends, thank you.

To my partner, Aisha, thank you for being my rock.

Speaker, to all of the members in the House: I don’t know what our future holds, but my mom and I are so lucky to have experienced all this compassion during this unbearable time, and I cannot thank you all enough.

I’m delighted to welcome, from York Centre, Lisa Fruitman, a person who has followed in her own parents’ footsteps as a great innovator and advocate, especially for Reena; together with Colin Ruskin; Stan Greenspan; and Rabbi Sean Gorman. Welcome to the Ontario Legislature.

I want to welcome Gulshan Bakshi, a retired CAF veteran air officer, and his daughter, Aananya Bakshi, our page captain for today, sitting to your right.

It is my great pleasure to welcome Thornhill resident and cofounder of the Indigenous Action Committee and most excellent guitar player, Mr. Matthew Bergman.

I’d like to welcome my EA from MCU, Navita Sukhdeo, who is here today in the members’ gallery with her daughter, Eliyanna Ali, and also my EA from my constit office, Caroline Raskin, who is here today with her husband, Steve Raskin.

I would like to welcome two amazing ladies from my constituency office, Barbara Greene and Yesenia Morillo. I’d also like to wish a very happy birthday to Yesenia’s daughter Mia, who is watching from home today and graduating from school. All the best.

First of all, to Jack Sullivan, who is moving on, I say thank you very much. It’s been an amazing journey.

Secondly, I’d like to welcome to the House the OMAFRA interns: William Hollis as well as Faiq Farooq.

I believe my nephew, Jack McMillan, is in the House somewhere as well.