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.

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.

Thank you to the member for the question. When our government took office, we committed to the people of this province that we would rebuild Ontario. Unlike the previous Liberal government, who left southwestern Ontario behind, our government is investing in this region. Why, Speaker? It’s because we know that when southwestern Ontario is strong, the entire province is strong.

I was proud to have recently joined the Premier and my colleagues to announce our government is moving forward with the widening of Highway 3. We have awarded the contract to design, build and finance the widening of Highway 3 between Essex and Leamington. This investment will improve road safety and will keep people and goods moving.

Speaker, our government is making historic investments in roads and in highways to tackle gridlock, connect communities and build our economy.

Speaker, not only are we moving forward with the widening of Highway 3; our government will also support the city of Windsor to build a new interchange connecting Highway 401 to the Lauzon Parkway. This critical investment will not only support economic development, but it will also help increase trade opportunities across Ontario’s borders.

Mr. Speaker, we’re moving forward with the largest transit expansion plan anywhere in North America, and while we’re building subways and LRTs, we’re also building a strong regional network that is going to bring two-way, all-day service across our entire network, and that is despite the opposition voting against it.

Kitchener-Waterloo is a growing area. That’s why Metrolinx is constantly monitoring service and ridership levels, and that is why, just recently, we announced an increased bus service. While the demand was greater than we even thought, the next day, we added double-decker buses to meet the demand in Kitchener-Waterloo.

Mr. Speaker, we are there to meet the demands of Ontarians. The greater Golden Horseshoe is growing, and we will make sure that our transportation network keeps up and meets that demand.

And with respect to two-way, all-day GO and more frequent service on weekends, we are building towards that. We are working closely with our rail partner CN to make sure that we can deliver the service that we have told Ontarians we will deliver.

Mr. Speaker, we put forward a great plan to get Ontarians home and get Ontarians to work in an easier, more frequent way. But when we do so, the NDP vote against it. The member opposite stands in this House and says she speaks for her constituents. Well, do her constituents know that when we put forward a plan that will actually deliver on the promise of two-way, all-day GO, she votes against it?

Thank you to the minister for her genuine leadership. While recent announcements made by our government will certainly address this long-standing and urgent need, these communities look forward to seeing construction get under way as soon as possible. This Highway 3 expansion will dramatically reduce commute times, increase road safety and improve the movement of people and goods.

But a further expansion of this infrastructure is still urgently needed. We’re seeing tremendous growth in the industrial, agricultural, manufacturing and health care sectors in Windsor and throughout Essex county. Population growth, job creation and other major investments are driving the urgency for an expanded transportation network. This is why our government must continue to invest in this infrastructure, to better support increased opportunities for trade through the busy Detroit-Windsor border.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how our investments in critical highway infrastructure and projects throughout southwestern Ontario will support our economy?