I’d like to welcome to the Legislature Dora Mehany, Pixie George-Benjamin and Nathan Zhu, who are members of CUPE 4400, which was a union I was recently a member of at Central Tech when I was teaching woodworking.

Thank you to the member opposite for the question. All along, we have advocated for children to be in stable classrooms. We know that the threat of strikes and pandemics have a great deal of impact on children’s mental, physical, social and emotional health, and their academic success, Speaker. That’s why we are at the table today, and we will remain at the table—designed to get a deal that is fair for our workers, that preserves the in-person learning experience that our children deserve.

The plan to catch up, as announced, was premised on a belief that kids have to be in school. Six hundred and fifty million more dollars are allocated this year, compared to last year. Nearly 7,000 more staff were hired since we came to power, almost a thousand more front-line teachers, a 420% increase in mental health—all of this is because we are committed to publicly funded schools. We’re committed to getting a deal and keeping these kids in school.

We are committed to ensuring stability for children. I would urge the members opposite to consider the very real impacts of union-driven strikes on children. They are real. They have learning loss and mental and physical health impacts that we can quantify. These are not abstractions; these are the children of our province. They have an obligation to them.

We have an obligation to them, which is why we are increasing funding in publicly funded schools; increasing staffing, with over $3 billion more than when the Liberals were in power in 2017-18; 7,000 more staff when you compare it to when we started; and 1,000 more front-line teachers. We are committed to our children and we’re committed to keeping kids in school.

It has been an extraordinary time in this province. This is not a normative period. Kids have—

Interjection.

But we have a plan in this province designed to help these kids get back on track: 650 million more dollars; a specific tutoring program, the first and only of its kind in the country; and $175 million helping 100,000 kids today get ahead. That’s how we help support them and get them back on track, but it all starts with keeping them in the classroom in the first place.

We’re joined today by many trade union leaders. l want to recognize Laura Walton, president of OSBCU, and Fred Hahn, president of CUPE Ontario, as well as union leaders. Without naming all of them—because there are so many, I’m just going to name the unions and organizations: OFL, OPSEU, ONA, ETFO, OCUFA, Unifor, the society of professional engineers, OSSTF, the machinists, OECTA, the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, and other CUPE locals, including CUPE Local 7575. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Thank you to the member across for his comments.

Contained in this bill, Bill 26, the NDA language is very clear that it only is precluded after a court or arbitrator has found wrongdoing. So the bill still allows an employer, a union or an employee to sign an NDA at any time until a court arbitrator decision is issued. My question is, why is your government allowing this massive loophole to exist? Why are you not banning all NDAs?