—to bully women and to say, “We don’t value you or the work that you do. We know better.”

Speaker, I can tell you that this side of the House and the women in the education sector, in the health care sector, in developmental services and everywhere else in the province are saying to this government, you just woke a beast, because we’re not going to take it anymore.

We’re talking about school secretaries. When a child falls on the playground and gets hurt, it’s the school secretary that cleans them up, puts on a Band-Aid if needed and shows that care and compassion to make that child feel better.

We’re talking about educational assistants who deal with students with developmental disabilities, some of the highest needs in the school system. They get kicked, they get punched, they get bitten. They wear Kevlar all day long. Does anyone on the government side have to wear Kevlar or put up with that throughout their day? They do it with compassion, and they do it because they love their students.

We’re talking about ECEs, who are supporting the youngest learners through some of the toughest developmental—

I agree with the member for Essex: Everyone involved wants to be in the classrooms, including these education workers. But this government, rather than bargaining—because there are still bargaining dates available; these workers aren’t on strike. You still have the opportunity to come back to the table. You didn’t have to bring this in.

But I have a question for the member from Essex: Do you think that it’s acceptable for these workers in our region to have to go to the food bank to feed their families? Do you think that’s acceptable?