I have a letter that I would like to share from a very concerned and upset mother. She wants me to know, “My son ... is struggling in school. He is ADHD and has autism. He is seven years old ... and desperately needs an EA or some kind of support. Our teacher is absolutely wonderful, for the first time in many years. She specializes in special education but the thing is like a lot she is running out of resources. He is very high needs and desperately needs 1:1 support in class. Unfortunately all requests come back as ‘no budget’ or no more staff available.

“I’m so upset as my son gets very hands” on “sometimes and can’t self-regulate. Last week he had an incident and now is told he has to sit in the office with admin staff to realize his actions (he has no idea what is going on). So this morning I pulled him to get some testing done. I was told because he missed part of the day he would be making up the hours tomorrow ... he would spend the full day again in the office with no outside recess, which he barely gets to experience.

“I’m so upset for my son. He is so bright and is being held back because of apparent resources not available and then making him spend all this time in the office. I’m ready to pull him.... He is being secluded from his peers” and “he is very liked in school.

“Can you help me in any way? I have no idea.”

My question to this government is: Why won’t they fund schools so that students like this child can participate and learn with the resources that they so desperately need?

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to extend a warm welcome to my friends at the Ontario Autism Coalition who are joining us in the chamber this morning.

I am pleased to have two groups to introduce today. The first is folks from the Ontario Autism Coalition who are joining us this morning: Kate Dudley-Logue, Amy Moledzki, Bruce McIntosh, Karen Rene Bojti, Michele MacAdam, and of course everyone knows Michau Van Speyk.

Also from Ottawa this morning joining us are Dr. June Webber and Gerry Barr. Welcome, everyone.

The government boasts about increasing funding for education to the highest level ever, but they don’t take into account inflation. There’s an inflationary cut of $40 million to school boards across the province. Toronto Catholic schools are facing at least a $35-million shortfall. That’s going to cause at least 120 staff cuts, and it may impact Amy Moledzki, who’s one of the parents in the House today. Her daughter has autism. Her daughter is non-verbal, is a flight risk and needs assistance with toileting. She’s in a special education class in a Toronto Catholic school. She’s worried that the cuts, because of the funding shortfall that your government is handing to TCDSB and other boards across this province—she’s afraid that they may lose some of the staff who support her daughter and that she won’t get the supports she needs to stay in school.

Why won’t the government put the safety of children first and provide adequate funding for special education?

This week, children from the legacy autism program are beginning the transition to our schools with no plan from the government, no communication with school boards and no funding to schools to support them.

Michele MacAdam, who is here with us today, is one of thousands of parents across the province who are concerned by this government’s failure to put in place a plan. Michele’s daughters are 10 and 12. They are not toilet-trained. They are non-verbal, so this transition can’t even be explained to them, and their safety will be at risk without support. They are flight risks. They need to be watched at all times to make sure they don’t put things in their mouth and choke. They need supports in school to stay safe and thrive, and this government is giving them nothing. Why is the Premier setting these kids up to fail?

For children with special education needs, we believe so strongly that they need support to succeed in our school system, given the exceptional challenges they face. This school year, and every year, we’ve increased funding for special education overall by $92 million. That is highest level of investment in the history of Ontario. It’s at $3.25 billion today, and we recognize there’s more to do.

Specifically for children with autism, we doubled the behaviour expertise amount from $15 million to $30 million; $25 million more for staffing. Today, when compared to the former Liberals, there are 3,200 additional EAs hired and working with those very children who need support. We have fully subsidized professional development AQs for educators to lift their standards for better communications with those children, and as well, we’ve expanded the After School Skills Development Program to every school board in Toronto. We know there’s more to do, and I look forward to working with members opposite to improve the lives of those kids.