I’d like to welcome, from the Ottawa Police Association, Barmak Anvari, Brian Samuel, Cameron Entwistle and Matthew Cox. I look forward to meeting them today.

I also want to welcome, from the progressive contractors’ association, a constituent of mine, Matt Hill.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I’d like to welcome the Invasive Species Centre and partner organizations attending Queen’s Park for their annual advocacy day—Kyle Borrowman, Terry Rees, Andrea Klymko, Bob Lambe, Mark Ryckman, Belinda Junkin. I invite everyone to attend their reception this evening in room 228.

It’s my honour to rise today to recognize our page captain Nicholas Baryliuk from my riding of Eglinton–Lawrence, and to introduce his proud parents, Ruth and Colin Baryliuk, who are joining us in the east lobby. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Today I would like to welcome St. Enva’s school in Mississauga–Lakeshore here—especially Mr. Otto and his grade 5 class, as well as Nina Chiarelli and her son Hank Quinn from grade 5. Thank you for being here.

I know he has been recognized, but I’d still like to recognize Mark Baxter, the president of the police association, and your team members. I look forward to meeting you later today.

I, too, am very pleased to welcome a former member to the chamber: the member for Burlington in the 41st Parliament, Eleanor McMahon. Once again, welcome.

There’s a point of order.

It is now time for oral questions.

Minister of Health.

I’d like to welcome Justin Wheeler from the Cornwall police force that’s here today with the Police Association of Ontario. We all know the hard work that they do.

Thank you, Justin, for everything you do.

The most important thing that we can do to protect our children and protect our hospital capacity is to keep up to date on our vaccinations.

If you qualify for a booster, get that booster. Get that flu shot. Make sure you protect yourself so that you can protect vulnerable people in our society.

We have SickKids nurses who are leaders in childhood and pediatric RSV and flu innovations. They are now offering that expertise to nurses in community hospitals, because they understand that, working together, we will get through this flu season; we will get through this higher rate of RSV. They are doing it because they work together and they are innovating.

It is very unfortunate that the member opposite is suggesting that nothing has been happening, because in fact there have been many positive innovations that have—

Interjections.

In August, Niagara hosted the 2022 Canada Summer Games. It was a massive success. Team Ontario won 198 medals—the most. Almost 4,000 volunteers helped pull this event off—world-class legacy with a facility that will deal with sports medicine, sports for all ages, recreation. It is one of the best around, and it will serve a very large audience around the Niagara region and beyond.

The leadership team is here today—look at that; it’s like they’ve got lights on. It’s an opportunity to introduce them: Chair Doug Hamilton, Wade Stayzer, Elizabeth Grimmond, Eleanor McMahon, Mario D’Uva, Lynn Hamilton, Vittoria Wikston, Mahaylia Datars, Steve Sevor, Justan Steele, Janice Robinson, Aimee Maggiacomo, Isaac Blank.

You guys were unbelievable. The next hosts are going to have a heck of a time matching what you’ve done. Congratulations.

I would also like to welcome John Sewell to the House. I know he was our former mayor, and I also recognize that he has been removed.

Thank you, John, for your hard work. You’ve made our hometown of St. Paul’s very proud.

And welcome to all the students in the House. Welcome to your House.

I want to give a shout-out to the members of the Thunder Bay Police Association who are here today, as well as my former colleagues from the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards and the Ontario Police Arbitration Commission.

I’d like to recognize Eleanor McMahon, a friend as well as a mentor, a former Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, as well as President of the Treasury Board and founder of the Share the Road Cycling Coalition, and the president and CEO of the Trans Canada Trail. Welcome.

Speaker, as you know, children in Ontario are facing a health care crisis. Public health officials are saying that we should be masking indoors to protect our children. The Premier and his government are not following that advice, but they are telling others to follow it. It seems like a classic case of “do as I say, not as I do.”

Is the Premier going to be a leader and mask up indoors or not?

There is so much more this government needs to do to address the crisis that our children face. We need an ambitious flu and COVID-19 vaccination push. We need an advertising blitz to encourage people to mask up and get vaccinated. We need 10 paid sick days so that people can stay home when they’re sick. We need government members to show personal leadership. Will the Premier step up today and lead on these critical public health initiatives?

Will the Premier be a leader and act on the recommendations of the medical officer of health or not?

Interjections.

I know they’ve been welcomed already—but a special welcome to the members of the Waterloo Regional Police Service who are here today.

And my wife, Kim, is joining us today.

Speaker, our government believes children should be in the classroom, and I hope the members opposite would agree with that premise.

We said we would repeal Bill 28, and we did that. We said we would increase wages across the board. In fact, we have increased wages by over $335 million over four years for the lowest-paid workers. We also said that we would offer a flat rate; we did that too.

The question is, why are we here? We did everything we said we would to workers at CUPE to get a deal that keeps kids in school.

We are absolutely committed to a fair deal. We’re going to stay at the table.

I urge the union to call off this needless strike. Work with the government. Let’s get a deal that keeps kids in the classroom.

All we ask is that kids stay in school. We think they need to be in school after the disruptions of the pandemic, of recent strikes. This should not be something that is done in this province ever so casually—strikes every few weeks. Kids deserve to be in school.

I urge the union to stay at the table. Let’s get a deal that’s fair for the workers and keeps kids in the classroom in this province.

Mr. Speaker, unlike the provincial Liberal former government that closed 600 schools, we have now invested in over a hundred construction projects, as we speak—$14 billion over the next 10 years to renew our schools. We are increasing funding, increasing staffing. And we insist these kids stay in the classroom.

Thank you. The official opposition will come to order.

The next question.

To reply, the Minister of Health.

This government’s cuts to education mean our kids aren’t getting all of the supports they need and deserve in schools. There are educational assistants running back and forth in hallways with walkie-talkies trying to figure out which kid needs help the most. Parents are getting a phone call saying, “Your child can’t come to school today; there’s no EA available.”

The government claimed all the disruption it caused to our kids’ school year with Bill 28 was to support our kids. So why is the Premier refusing to bargain a deal that ensures every child gets the support they need with no more disruptions to the school year?

Custodial staff do such important work to keep kids safe, but we’ve got schools where teachers and principals are forced to fill in for shortages because of custodians missing, schools with libraries closed because there’s no library worker.

If the government is serious about making up for learning loss and giving kids a normal school year, why is the Premier refusing to negotiate a deal with real investments and throwing things into chaos once again?

Speaker, we know from the Financial Accountability Office that this government isn’t investing enough to support our students. They are underfunding education by $400 million this year, and they will be short $6 billion over the next six years.

Education workers are fighting for our kids.

Will the government do the right thing and make the investments needed to ensure our schools remain good places to learn?

My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.

Technology is one of our province’s most important economic drivers. Yet for years, under the previous Liberal government, our best STEM graduates were leaving the province in droves to pursue jobs in the US and elsewhere.

Since Ontarians elected our government in 2018, the importance of a resilient technology sector has grown stronger.

Will the minister explain how our government is ensuring that our tech talent remains here at home while showcasing that Ontario is open for business?

Ontario is proud to be home to Canada’s largest technology sector and second-largest tech cluster in all of North America. There are over 21,000 technology firms employing more than 400,000 top professionals in the sector. We are fostering the perfect environment for Ontario’s 65,000 STEM graduates.

That’s why, earlier this month, we joined both L&T Technology Services and Snowflake engineering as they announced millions in investment and hundreds of new tech jobs. LTTS, a leading global engineering company from India, opened their first office in this province and created 100 engineering jobs. Snowflake landed in Ontario from Montana with their Toronto headquarters and engineering hub, providing 300 well-paying tech jobs. This is all proof that we have created the best conditions for businesses to invest here in Ontario.