I rise as the House leader for the official opposition to offer a few brief comments on the point of privilege that was raised by the member.

Certainly, we share concerns about public statements about this legislation that have been made by the Minister of Education but, more importantly, we have grave concerns about the content of this legislation. This is a bill that will have profound and lasting implications for public education and for the future of collective bargaining in this province. The use of the “notwithstanding” clause to suppress constitutionally protected charter rights is the first time the “notwithstanding” clause has been exercised in this way in Canada. We look forward to your ruling on this matter of privilege.

In spite of my colleague’s representation of qualifying statements, the minister presupposed the will of this House. It’s very clear what was said, and whether that was intended to send a signal to the bargaining table or here in this chamber, it wasn’t right and I ask that you fully consider this case.

I want to thank the member for Scarborough–Guildwood for her written presentation as well as her comments this morning. I also thank the member for London West, the government House leader, the member for Ottawa South and the member for Guelph for their submissions and their comments.

I will consider the matter carefully and report back to the House as soon as we can.

The Premier.

I realize that members care passionately and deeply about this issue, but I need to be able to hear the member who has the floor, and I’ll ask the House to come to order.

Start the clock.

The next question.

My question is to the Premier. But before I ask it, I’ll just assure the Premier that the members of those unions, who are providing our children the support today, want what has been put forward, and any suggestion that their wishes aren’t being represented is simply not accurate.

Speaker, education workers are critical to our schools. They’re the librarians who help our kids develop a love of reading. They’re the educational assistants who go above and beyond to help those children who are dealing with disabilities. They’re the secretaries who keep our schools running. But instead of valuing these workers and paying them a fair wage, listening to what they want and actually meeting them at a fair point, the government is determined to drive them right out of our schools.

Why does the government have such a hard time recognizing the important role education workers play in our schools?

My question is to the Premier.

Good morning, Premier. It’s good to see you here.

Yesterday the Minister of Education said he was tabling Bill 28 because it was in the best interest of students. Let me say, Speaker, that’s pretty rich coming from a government that has shown time and time again how little they actually care for our kids and our students. They’ve underfunded our schools, increased class sizes, forced kids into online classes, and kept kids out of classrooms longer than any other jurisdiction. That is not the behaviour of a government that cares about kids—and neither is Bill 28.

Will the Premier stop this, roll up his sleeves and work with education workers to invest in our students?

Ontarians want to know why this Premier is not standing up for the custodians and the maintenance workers who are keeping our schools clean and safe or the educational assistants supporting our students with special needs, or the ECEs who are teaching our littlest kids. Speaker, this government—they have all the power and the privilege. All these workers have is their union and their right to bargain collectively.

It is not too late. Fix the mess you’re making today.

Will the Premier speak up and stop this bill?

The Premier is forcing these workers to accept a shameful deal while they starve our classrooms, and they’re sitting on billions of education dollars at the same time.

And do you know the irony, Mr. Speaker? The irony is that this bill—this government—is going to force the education workers out. That’s what’s going to do it. This bill is going to close our schools—this bill right here.

Will the Premier stop coming after workers, tear up this terrible bill and return to the bargaining table today?

Mr. Speaker, we’re making sure that the students stay in class. I’m going to repeat that: They’re going to stay in class. We want parents to know that we’re doing everything we can to make sure students don’t miss one single day in class.

We’ve been at the table, we put a very fair offer, and the union continues to charge ahead with a strike action that would affect this province this Friday. That means there would be two million students sitting at home and probably a million parents who would be taking work off.

I want to be clear: We will never, ever waver from our position that students remain in class, catching up with their learning, surrounded by friends, with a full school experience, including extracurricular activities.

The Liberals and NDP want to make sure they stand up for the heads of the union. Our party differentiates between labour and labour leadership. We support the front-line labour folks. We support the fact that the front-line folks get 131 days of sick days; we’re okay with that. But what we don’t support is the unreasonable request from CUPE leadership that they demand a nearly 50% increase—a 50% increase.

Mr. Speaker, the union refuses to withdraw their strike notice even after we put forward a very generous offer. We’ve already—

They talk about 54,000 workers; we’re talking about over a million parents who would take work off because you want to feather the nest of the heads of the union. That’s unacceptable.

We want to take care of the front-line, hard-working educational workers, and we’ll always have their backs. But do you know something? We aren’t going to feather the nest of the head of CUPE.

Again, we differentiate between labour and labour leadership. I think the labour needs to find new labour leadership.

Interjections.

I appreciate the opportunity to stand in support of the member from Scarborough–Guildwood in her point of privilege today. I believe the member has established that the comments made by the minister presume passage of Bill 28. But I also contend that the minister’s actions, in addition to the minister’s words, presume passage of the bill, because the government has simply refused to go back to the negotiating table. If the government were not presuming passage of the bill this week, I believe it would be in the best interest of the government and the people of Ontario for the government to continue to negotiate with education workers in this province.

All of us have an important role to play in this House. Yes, we are members—well, most of us are members—of political parties, but at the end of the day—

Interjections.

At the end of the day, we represent our constituents. We represent the people of our ridings, the people who elected us. To presume that partisan politics plays a larger role, and then that role of us as members of this House—

Interjection.

It is an important role to play. We’re looking at the first Westminster government—Parliament right now has shown what can happen when you presume passage of legislation that your own party members don’t support. That’s an important role that governments play, that’s an important role that individual MPPs play in this House.

The government may be taking a chainsaw to charter rights with this bill, but they should not violate parliamentary privilege by presumption of passage of legislation before every member of this House has had the opportunity to vote on it.

The supplementary question.

I realize this is out of order, but I want to welcome the schoolchildren who are here in the east and west public galleries. We’re glad to have you here to observe question period.

I know all members will join me in wanting to impress those schoolchildren today.

Start the clock.

Next question.

Les travailleurs et les travailleuses en éducation ont soutenu nos enfants chaque jour pendant les deux dernières années. Ils étaient à l’école, même quand les écoles étaient fermées, à cause du travail important qu’ils font. Ils aiment leur travail. Ils veulent continuer de le faire. Mais ils ne peuvent plus le faire et payer leurs factures en même temps.

Le projet de loi du gouvernement attaque ces travailleurs si importants qui ne peuvent plus joindre les deux bouts. Pourquoi le premier ministre insiste-t-il pour imposer une politique de faibles salaires et les forcer à recourir aux banques alimentaires, au lieu de négocier une convention juste et raisonnable?

Crystal, who lives in Ottawa West–Nepean, is a library tech, supporting over 600 kids at two different schools. She works long, exhausting days, then comes home to a diet of canned beans and rice because that’s all she can afford. She does yard duty in shoes with holes in them because she can’t afford to replace them. She still loves her job and she can’t fathom doing anything else, but this government is driving workers like Crystal away.

Instead of trampling on the rights of workers like Crystal, will the Premier actually step up to support Crystal and the 620 kids she supports by scrapping this shameful bill and coming to the table to negotiate a fair deal?

Le projet de loi 28 est de l’intimidation envers les travailleurs et les travailleuses de l’éducation. Il limite leurs salaires et, dans certains cas, les force à aller dans les banques alimentaires. Les actions de ce gouvernement vont enlever des adultes de nos salles de classe, et ce sont nos enfants qui vont en payer le prix.

Le premier ministre va créer une crise des ressources humaines dans nos écoles, de la même façon qu’il l’a fait dans nos hôpitaux, avec leurs politiques de bas salaires.

Est-ce que le premier ministre va faire marche arrière avec le projet de loi 28, soutenir les travailleurs et les travailleuses de l’éducation et retourner à la table des négociations?

I want to thank the member for Mississauga–Lakeshore for that question. He’s absolutely right. We know that the status quo is not working. The members opposite have even acknowledged that fact. If we continue down the path that this province has been on, there is going to be a generation that will never realize the dream of home ownership.

The proposed legislation takes several very important steps to make sure that Ontario has the additional housing supply it needs, by permitting more gentle intensification, through allowing three as-of-right units. Our proposed changes will lay the foundation for more missing middle housing.

Additionally, we’re reducing building costs to incentivize the construction of affordable housing, not-for-profit housing and inclusionary zoning units right across this province.

What we’re asking is that the opposition put partnership over partisanship and stop—

While the NDP and Liberals sit on the sidelines, this government will stand up for students and keep them in class. That is what a responsible government would do.

Mr. Speaker, we believe in a simple principle, as communicated by the Premier: that children should be in the classroom. It has been a very difficult past few years. It started with strikes, followed by a global pandemic. We have a moral obligation to ensure they are in school, in front of their teachers, with their friends, learning skills—not at home on a Friday or any day this school year.

We’ve been very clear in our intention to stand up for students—and parents—and ensure they’re in school every day.

We are very committed to keeping kids in school. We’ve heard the voices of parents who have told us of the difficulty and the hardship they faced with respect to the pandemic and the strikes that preceded just a short few years ago.

While we remain committed to getting a deal with any willing partner in education to provide stability, we will not tolerate impacts on kids. We will not accept a child being out of school for even one day. We’re taking action to stand up for children while we continue in good faith with our labour partners to get a deal so that we can all bring forth a program that is fair for workers, whom we respect. It’s why we are hiring 1,800 more of them in this program. It’s why this Progressive Conservative government has hired nearly 7,000 more education workers, to date, in our schools.

Mr. Speaker, we’ll continue our work, listen to parents, stand up for students and keep these kids in school.

Interjections.

The Premier is right: We stand alone on this issue, and we will fight every day to ensure these kids remain in school.

My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Ontario’s housing supply is in a crisis. Housing was the leading issue of concern during the provincial and municipal elections. We share these concerns with our members opposite, who have often claimed to advocate for missing middle housing and to increase the supply of attainable and affordable housing in the province of Ontario. The issue of addressing the housing situation in our province transcends party lines and requires immediate action, as the status quo is not working.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on the bold and decisive actions our government is taking to address the concerns related to housing supply?

I’m sure that all members of this House have received questions and concerns from the people of their riding regarding what our government is doing to help individuals and families achieve the dream of home ownership. I know our government is committed to delivering on our mandate of building 1.5 million homes over the next decade. We all agree that the government must take bold and decisive actions to help those who feel left behind in the housing market.

Can the minister please explain how this legislation will help Ontarians, newcomers and young first-time buyers realize their dream of home ownership?

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to keeping kids in the classroom. That is our priority. That is what is driving this legislation. It is why we are here today, because CUPE has decided, on Sunday, to announce a five-day strike.

CUPE alone put themselves on this footing. After all, it was CUPE that decided to proceed with a strike mandate even before the government tabled our first offer in the summer. This was their intention all along, and it is regrettable we are here. We shouldn’t be here. We should have had a voluntary deal signed on Sunday that preserves stability and offers a reasonable offer to the workers: 10% over four years; maintaining the benefits, the pensions, the sick leave, which we believe is competitive—11 days paid at 100% and 120 days at 90%, the only program of its kind in the country.

Mr. Speaker, our commitment is to preserve those benefits to incent more of them to work and to ensure they show up on Friday, because our kids are depending on them to be there every day in this province.

I’d like to thank the member opposite for her leadership and advocacy to support a critical need in housing. We heard it through the last election and we know that our municipal counterparts heard it through theirs. For years, Ontarians have struggled to find attainable home ownership. Parents and grandparents are looking in the eyes of their children, wondering if they’ll ever have a place to call home. And if we’re going to be honest with ourselves, Speaker, that means we need to build the critical infrastructure to support that housing growth. Simply put, Ontarians deserve reliability and strong environmental oversight for simple actions like turning the faucet on or flushing the toilet.

It’s not sexy, I know, but for years, the previous Liberal government ignored this critical infrastructure needed to give people the dignity of a roof over their head and a place to call home, and for years, these regions struggled to meet their population growth numbers because of neglect by the previous Liberal government. Well, I’m proud to say that under the leadership of this Premier and this Minister of Housing, we’re solving the problem. We are getting shovels in ground on the roads, the bridges, the houses and, yes, the critical water and waste water infrastructure needed so that people can have a place to call home in the province of Ontario.

And finally, they’ve done the important work of looking at optimizing existing infrastructure. They’ve done excellent work, and that’s why our ministry is here, providing certainty for both regions, to support the growth, working with Indigenous partners to meet important duty-to-consult requirements. And, Speaker—

Experts are projecting that Ontario’s population is expected to increase by two to six million over the next 20 years. As many newcomers arrive in Ontario, in communities like mine, Newmarket–Aurora, York region is viewed as a favourable jurisdiction to settle down, raise a family and own a home. Many of my constituents have settled in this area, and to meet the future needs of my community’s growing population, our government must ensure environmentally sustainable growth for the great people of York region. Under the previous Liberal government, we saw how they chose to dither, delay and neglect when it came to proper environmental planning and housing development for my region.

Can the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks please explain what our government is doing for housing development in York region?

Can the minister please elaborate on how this decision was made and why this is the right choice for all of Ontario and my community of Newmarket–Aurora in the great region of York?

Again, I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Lakeshore. He’s a true home-believer and a true champion for housing in his riding.

Our government is making sure that first-time homebuyers have access to the homes that they can afford. It’s imperative that we use every tool that’s available to us, including the creation of our new attainable housing program. It’s going to reduce costs on affordable housing. It’s going to parcel surplus provincial lands and take advantage of innovative technologies and also alternate housing-ownership models.

Speaker, Ontarians need and they deserve peace of mind when it comes to making the biggest purchase in their life. That’s why I was proud, last week, to stand with Minister Rasheed, the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery, as we introduced the strictest consumer protection in Canada.

The opposition was right when they said we need all hands on deck. We just need them to change their approach. They have to start saying yes to creating new housing supply.

My question to the Premier. Good morning, Premier. I want to tell you about Daniel Rancourt. He’s an education support worker. His dedication to our children is absolutely immense. For 29 years, Daniel has kept our schools clean and safe for students and for staff. Unfortunately, his child has type 1 diabetes and that requires medication and medical supplies, and covering the cost of those necessary medical supplies is a huge struggle for Daniel.

Workers who are working 12 hours a day, five days a week, should be able to afford necessary medical expenses for their child, but Daniel said, “Put yourself in our shoes. With the rising cost of living, would you be able to live off our salary? This, Mr. Ford and Mr. Lecce”—I’m quoting—“means that as a father and a husband, I don’t get to spend a lot of time at home.”

My question: Will the Premier scrap this harmful bill, finally acknowledge the lives and struggle of the education support workers they’re hurting, and direct his minister to sit down and finally negotiate a fair deal?

Let me tell you about Charity. I keep telling the Premier about Charity. She is a full-time education support worker who earns so little from the Conservative government that she goes to food banks. Yesterday, I asked a question about it and got ignored by the Premier. I’m hoping to get an answer today. Charity doesn’t understand why the Conservative government continues to attack workers like her. She called me yesterday and she said, “I am so scared right now. I’m honestly terrified. My kids are wearing the same Halloween costumes from last year because we couldn’t afford new ones. I just want to go grocery shopping. We deserve better than the food bank.”

Will the Premier finally answer and tell Charity why he doesn’t care about her children or about workers like her?

Minister of Education.