I introduce Bill 28, the Keeping Students in Class Act, which would provide stability and certainty in our schools. We are now just 72 hours away from a strike that would impact virtually every student across Ontario. For more than two months, we’ve been negotiating with education unions with a very fair deal—one that maintains a generous pension package and benefits. We came to the table looking to make a deal, with a significant increase of up to 10% over four years, because we know we have to keep kids in class.

Right now our students need the stability of uninterrupted classroom learning. We cannot afford to put our young people through another roller-coaster of school closures and learning disruption. Right now our students need stability.

For two years, our young people have carried the weight of this pandemic as their lives were put on hold. COVID interrupted all of our lives. It was a once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis that touched every aspect of our daily routine. People had to adjust to a new way of living during the pandemic, and that had real impacts, Speaker, on mental and physical health, and the financial well-being of our people.

But even before the pandemic, students, families and parents were faced with uncertainty in the education sector. Just before our students would have to carry the burden of the global pandemic, education unions forced students out of classrooms. For 68 days in 2019-20, education strikes meant parents had to find child care or take time off work, students missed valuable time in the classroom, and education unions were once again walking out on parents and students as they fought for higher pay and benefits. That uncertainty for students and parents and taxpayers must come to an end. Families have worried for too long about the financial instability that school closures bring with them. For some that means being forced to take time off work, to lose out on income so they can take care of their kids. Others are forced to spend hard-earned income on child care that they wouldn’t have otherwise needed—an added cost at a time of rising inflation, when many are already facing affordability challenges.

Everyone in this Legislature must agree that our students belong in the classroom—they’re finally getting back to some stability. And I’ve heard from those students. They want to be in class. They’re excited to be back with their friends, Speaker, to prepare themselves for the next steps in life. It’s something I’ve heard over and over again in all regions of the province—regardless of how old our students are, or what grade they’re in, they just want to be back in school. They’re finally getting their lives back, as I noted, with a routine. They want to once again gain the experiences and the skills and the knowledge that move them forward within our schools.

As Ontario’s Minister of Education, I have the opportunity to meet so many young people in this province—our young people moving through the education system—and I’ve heard their concerns and I’ve heard their voices, too. It’s a privilege to hear from them. And they’re passionate about their education. But it’s clear what instability means for them. For parents, it means another interruption in their children’s education, and those interruptions can be costly. It’s not just about academics, Speaker—which we know have been seriously impacted here and around the western world because of education interruptions from the pandemic and the strikes that preceded it—but there are other consequences as well.

Mental health has become a challenge for many young people throughout this pandemic. We know that social isolation led to higher rates of substance abuse, higher rates of domestic violence, higher rates of suicide, and this trend of increasing mental health challenges is reflected in our student population as well. According to CAMH, the pandemic had a major impact on the mental health of Ontario’s students: 59% of them said it made them feel depressed about their future; 39% said it made their mental health worse; and 18% reported they seriously contemplated suicide in the past year. The only word to describe these statistics is heartbreaking. And these are not just numbers on a page to be recorded in Hansard this morning—each and every one reflects a student right here in Ontario, whose life is worse off than it was before the pandemic, and it is for them, Speaker, that we have a moral obligation to stand up and keep children in class.

I remember hearing, just a short while ago, from a student who was really struggling with isolation and online learning, whose story reflects the challenges that so many students and their families were forced to confront over two years of extraordinary circumstances, because we know that learning at home had its difficulties. It was much harder for these kids to follow along in a subject like math than it was already in the classroom. I’m going to quote a parent who talked to me about the challenges their child had: “He began to doubt himself. He felt like he was a failure. He no longer had a social circle to help him. He was alone and he was struggling.”

Thankfully, the student is happy to be back in class today. Speaker, you could look in the eyes of this student and see the energy and the passion to be back with his friends in front of his teachers, learning the skills he deserves to. It matters to provide, yes, a critical education, as I noted, but also, I think, importantly, the social supports—the friendship and the return to normal these kids so desperately need.

As I said, this is a story from one student, but it sounds similar to many families in this province who have witnessed first-hand the serious mental and social impacts of learning disruption. Those mental health challenges are only magnified when access to physical health is limited. After-school practice, gym class, phys ed and outdoor activities are all ways our young people burn off excess steam and help them get the exercise they need. And there’s not a great replacement for them when they aren’t in school. So, on top of learning loss, students are faced with isolation and a more sedentary lifestyle.

These are the students we must keep at the top of our minds as we talk about keeping our schools open, as we fight to ensure stability within our school system. These are the students whose first-hand experiences tells us that a computer screen isn’t a substitute for a classroom, that these kids need to be in front of a teacher. We know this, Speaker, which is why we stood so strongly in the defence of a normal and full return to class, something that we know is critical to the life of a child.

Kids have learned through this process, Speaker. And we have learned, as a government, that we have to ensure that these kids have a stable environment around them. We cannot forget or downplay the fact that our young people are profoundly impacted when schools are closed. Young people are profoundly impacted by a school closure; it should not be a routine act in this province, as it has become for the last 40 years in Ontario. However, in most cases everyone here in this place, and all of those who have received a government paycheque, were insulated from this pandemic. We had stable jobs and we knew our paycheques would be deposited. In many cases, we had stable child care options or the means to secure them. To put it simply: People in this building need to better understand—and I speak to the members opposite—that a strike doesn’t impact us all in the same way. We have to remember the impacts it has on the children of this province.

But something else that is clear is that students of all backgrounds and all incomes experience academic decline when their education is interrupted. And all students struggle with the isolation caused by school closures. This was captured by a parent interviewed by McMaster University between March and June of this year, when she said that her “four-year-old son [is] really struggling with isolation. [He has] zero contact with any other people his age.” She speaks of how he has “online contact with grandparents but his mental health and social skills are much worse than they were prior to COVID. We’re starting to see physical impacts as well.” And now Ontario’s education unions want to add further uncertainty to this parent’s life and further disrupt this mother’s son.

Today, members opposite really have a binary choice before them: Will you join the government and stand with parents for stability? Will you stand with parents who have seen the consequences of learning disruption first-hand? Or do you stand with those who once again, just two months after class has returned to normal, seek to throw our entire education system into uncertainty?

Leadership is about doing what is right, not easy. It is about decoupling the outrage on Twitter from the real stories, experiences and often challenges that come with disruption. In short, Speaker, it’s about singularly advancing the best interest of children, and that is what any responsible government should do.

Do not, however, underestimate the power of students in this debate, and do not be mistaken into thinking this government does not understand the contributions our workers make within our schools. Circumstances forced them to adapt, and they did so, doing their very best over the pandemic. But those educators in the front of our class also know in their hearts that these kids need to be in class.

More than anyone else, except for parents, they understand our students are facing a real crisis right now. They understand how two years have been interrupted, and quite simply that means lost time—time that our students cannot afford to lose today.

We know this was not the case across the country, and many other jurisdictions pursued temporary layoffs for support staff. In this province, Speaker, under our government, staff remained employed, with steady paycheques, job security and benefits for their families. And we know they were, and are, an integral part of the reopening of our classrooms, part of our commitment to a normal, stable return this September. They are keeping our schools safe today, and for that we are grateful. Because, in short, it is about singularly advancing the best interests of these kids, and we express a great level of gratitude to the workers who support them.

To recognize the hard and dedicated work across our education system, Ontario’s government came forward with a desire to increase compensation while protecting generous benefits and the most valuable pensions in the country. Our intention was to give the largest increase to those who make the least—topping out at 10.3% over four years. That is a level which far outpaces most private sector wage increases. However, union bosses refused to back away from their demand for a nearly 50% increase in compensation. In fact, this all but guaranteed a strike, sending students home after being back in class for just two months. This is unacceptable. It is unacceptable to parents that they have to go through this again. It’s unacceptable to these kids that they have to be out of class on Friday.

The Keeping Students in Class Act would, if passed, establish a reasonable and a fair four-year collective agreement with CUPE education workers across the province. The bill would enable this government to live up to the promise we made parents: that kids would be in class, without interruption, from September until June, where they belong.

The proposed legislation would establish a central collective agreement that increases compensation for Ontario’s CUPE education workers, offering a salary increase of 2.5%—increased from an initial offer of 2%—for employees at the top end of their salary grids being around $43,000 annually. That was increased as well, from $40,000. And we’re increasing the salaries for those who make above that threshold to 1.5% every year for the life of that contract.

Mr. Speaker, to recognize the importance they play, we’re also increasing benefits contributions, resulting in a $6,100 annual employer contribution for every employee by August 31, 2026.

We are also going to be supporting the funding of the Support for Students Fund, which will establish and help create 875 teachers and 1,600 to 1,830 education workers—more workers in our schools to make a difference for our kids.

Speaker, when you reflect on where we started in 2017-18, there are roughly 7,000 more education workers, specifically, in our schools, because our government has been increasing investments to support more staffing, more EAs and custodians, on the front line of our classrooms.

We’re also modifying the sick leave and short-term disability plan provisions that protect stability of student learning, while maintaining generous pension, benefits and sick leave programs for those workers. We’re providing funding for apprenticeship training of $4.5 million and extending a modified job security provision.

In addition, local collective agreements negotiated and settled with CUPE in 2019 would be extended for four years. All of this is on top of the most generous taxpayer contribution to the education worker pension plan in Canada that we provide. What this means is that Ontario’s government is committed to ensuring our education system is the most generous one in the country.

But this bill also demonstrates our absolute commitment to ensuring students remain in class. Because that is our number one priority as a government. Kids need to be in class to get back on track. For Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up, schools need to be open.

And, to make sure that schools have the tools and resources they need to stay open safely in our post-pandemic world, we have made massive investments in air filtration and ventilation improvements. We have invested more than $600 million to make sure that every single school has improved air ventilation—over 100,000 stand-alone HEPA units within our learning spaces.

We continue to be among a minority of provinces that provide rapid antigen tests to symptomatic staff and students. We’ve also provided more resources and training to ensure our staff have the tools they need to create safe environments. In fact, we’ve spent $3.2 billion to give our schools the tools they need to provide safe learning environments for our kids. That includes up to 3,000 staff who were hired through our COVID support fund.

So we’ve got a plan to make sure that our education workers receive more compensation and that our schools are equipped with the tools to stay safe. But we know our students need tools and support right now as well. That’s why Ontario’s government is also spending a record amount on getting our students back on track with the Plan to Catch Up. It truly is an historic investment of more than $600 million. We’re going to get students back on track in this province. The money will be used, and is being used, to support learning recovery, provide tutoring supports and facilitate summer learning, all while increasing supports for mental health and special education.

We announced Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up last summer, and it builds on Ontario’s Learning Recovery Action Plan, which we had previously introduced in February of this year—we’re continuously investing in our schools and investing in our students to help them through this difficulty—that’s our five-point plan to strengthen learning recovery. It includes $176 million for our historic tutoring support program, and there has been flexibility built in with the tutoring supports being delivered through our school boards and partners directly to students in small groups—after school, during school, on weekends, over the summer and online, too. Mr. Speaker, the province-wide program began in April, and I was happy to announce just two weeks ago that we’ll be extending it into the new year.

We are ensuring there is an effective implementation of tutoring supports in every school board in the province. This is the first and the only tutoring program of its kind in our country. I speak about this because I know how important it is that kids learn the skills they have lost, a learning loss that we have seen in this province and around the world.

To build on this tutoring program, we’ve acted to support parents right now, when they need the help the most. Ontario’s government has spent $365 million for direct payments to parents to address the needs of students who are returning to normal classrooms, because we recognize parents play a critical role in the life of their child. This means that parents and guardians will have the choice to use this funding to secure additional supports to help their kids and to make sure they have everything they need to get back on track in this province.

In response to this—well, we’ve heard it before: Opposition members, unions and others in the education system have attacked this support for Ontario parents with the same old tired lines. They say parents don’t know how to best use this money; they would have used it better for them. Mr. Speaker, this government knows better, because this government trusts our parents, who every day work for their kids and work for themselves.

Be assured that Ontario’s education system is being funded at the highest levels ever recorded in the province’s history. On a budget line, that means almost $35 billion for our education system this year alone. That historic funding commitment from Ontario’s government is having a real impact on our education system. That’s a $90-million increase of investment for mental health, 420% higher than when we started in 2017 under the former Liberal government. We’ve increased the Special Education Grant by $92 million, totalling $3.25 billion this year. This means an increase of more than 3,200 educational assistants helping our students with special needs—real investments from taxpayers getting real results for our students.

In February of this year, Ontario’s government released the Grants for Student Needs, the primary funding vehicle for our school boards—$26.12 billion—again, the highest level of investment in education in our province’s history. It’s an increase of $383.9 million when compared to last year alone. Per-student funding increases the consumer price index, meaning that it is a real net investment. Growth in the Grants for Student Needs since 2002 and 2003 reflects a 77% increase, compared to an increase of 43% in CPI.

Ontario’s historic investment in education also includes nearly $550 million in funding with respect to the Support for Students Fund and the COVID-19 Learning Recovery Fund. Both of these funds are supporting the hiring of staff within our schools. That fund has been extended and increased in this legislation, as proposed, to ensure consistency over time. Together, this means that under our government we will fund up to 5,675 more staff in our schools, supporting our kids in every region of this province. That reflects an addition of up to 900 more teachers, between 1,600 and 1,800 new education workers as part of this proposal, supporting special education and mental health and well-being, language instruction, Indigenous education and STEM programming, which we know is so critical to our kids.

Additionally, this means up to 3,000 more staff like early childhood educators, educational assistants and education workers. That builds on our record of success on this front, because between 2017-18 and 2022-23 alone, between that period since we took office, we’ve added more than 8,000 staff to our education system. During our government’s tenure, that’s 932 more teachers, bringing our total to 132,000 in the province. We’ve added nearly 7,000 more education workers, bringing the total to more than 90,000, and we’ve added more than 200 principals and vice-principals—that’s 8,000 more staff—while student enrolment is virtually flat over this period of time. That is a real commitment to our students and our next generation. We’re giving our students the supports that they need, and that’s proved in the numbers that are black and white before you. We know, most especially, in addition to those supports, the key principle of our plan is providing stability and keeping kids in school.

The record of funding and investment in education staff means that Ontario has the lowest average pupil-to-adult ratio in kindergarten classes in the country, the lowest class size caps for grades 1 to 3, and among the lowest regulated averages for grades 4 to 12 when compared to other provinces and territories that have regulated averages.

We’re supporting our students with our Plan to Catch Up, historic investments in public education, free tutoring and more staff. We’re supporting parents with direct financial supports they can invest in their kids’ success, and we’re supporting our education system with record funding that has employed more teachers than ever before in this province. With these historic investments from Ontario taxpayers, we know that our education system has the tools it needs to stay open and to help our kids catch up, and that’s more important now than ever, after the significant interruption of in-class learning caused by the pandemic. It’s clear that students have been among the most impacted by this once-in-a-lifetime public health crisis.

One parent reflects on the impact of a purely online experience. She said, “I’m worried about the impact ... on my child’s physical and mental” health “as well as their future education.” She’s concerned about the impacts of the shutdowns and the impacts on her daughters and their relationship with each other. That’s not a unique story. This is a typical concern that parents today have, because they say first-hand, themselves, in their homes, the ongoing at-home-learning challenges that they faced. These parents understood quite clearly that we cannot afford more disruption and uncertainty in the classrooms of this province.

This concern is echoed by a mother in Windsor-Essex, who said plainly, “Our children need to go back to school. My daughter genuinely wants to be with her friends in school.” Parents get it. They get that school is a foundational part of the development of a young mind. Academic performance, social development, athletic activity and lifelong success are what our education system is designed to produce. This parent understands we cannot afford more disruption and uncertainty in our classrooms.

The sad reality is that we’re starting to see the clear data on the academic consequences of this disruption. EQAO results paint a picture many parents already plainly saw themselves. Ontario students are no exception to the global trend of learning loss and academic decline. Everywhere, from the UK to New York, from Charlottetown to Victoria, student performance is trending downward, and we believe, as a government, that is not an acceptable reality. English EQAO results have seen a decline. There’s a decline in math in all regions of the province and country. French language, English language, reading, writing and math: In all these areas, we see decline. This is a trend we’re seeing in the entire world faced by disruption. I want to talk about that, because perhaps now more than ever, this is illustrative of the difference that in-class instruction can make.

We know, Speaker, as I mentioned on the EQAO data, math is a critical subject for success in the modern economy. In everything from the trades to business, it is something where hands-on instruction is clearly needed. Working out problems and asking questions are infinitely harder when you’re not in a classroom, and we know that playing catch-up is harder than getting it right the first time. That’s why all of our tutoring support and very basis of Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up are designed to increase competency in the basics: literacy and math.

Math was in our sights even before the global pandemic’s impact. We are already moving to ensure our education system prepares students for success in our modern, globalized economy. That includes our work to destream the grade 9 program, which prevents students from unfairly being excluded from success in STEM by pushing them into applied fields way too early. We’ve also moved to bring back-to-the-basics mathematics, shifting away from the unproven educational “discovery learning” introduced by the former government, and relying on proven education curricula.

We can also see the impacts of COVID on learning loss, and we know that an updated curriculum won’t help on that on its own because they need to be in the classroom in order to receive the benefits of a modern curriculum in the first place. And this government is making sure that’s exactly where they will be, uninterrupted, from September right until June.

Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up will help make sure that our kids can achieve the academic success they need to set themselves on a path to a brighter future. But it was not just academic success that was impacted two years ago by interruption to in-class learning. Our students were confronted with significant emotional and social impacts as well. This was summed up effectively by a newcomer—a parent who only wants the best for their child. This parent said:

“We immigrated to Canada as a family a few months before COVID-19” closed down our schools. “The last two years have been challenging in many more ways than we expected. Our daughter was supposed to be in grade 9 and our son was supposed to start grade 5.

“Both of our kids were excited to start school in Canada and make friends at school. Instead, they felt very isolated and without any social network, which impacted their mental health and overall confidence.... Both my wife and I must work to make ends meet so schools being closed further enhanced our struggles.

“Our daughter is now in grade 12 and is very excited to be in school and finally have the chance to make friends. She can socialize and learn from her peers. It’s actually helping her feel like she belongs and that she can have a future in Canada.

“To be honest, I’ve never seen my kids this excited to go back to school. As parents, we are earnestly asking to keep schools open. This is the only year our daughter can experience a normal school year here in Canada and she would be heartbroken if she had to go back to online learning. We also think it will affect her ability to succeed in university if she is forced to go back.... Please keep schools open.”

This is a parent who understands the importance of in-person learning, the challenges of disruption to their kids, the unfairness that this imposes on them on a cyclical basis in this province. As so many newcomers know, schools are a place for their kids to grow their social circles, to be safe, and in doing so, help connect their families with new people, neighbours and friends in their community. It’s an integral part of their lives, as they adapt to and learn about the life of this country.

This is another parent who understands we cannot afford more uncertainty and disruption in our classrooms. It’s not just newcomers who understand the profound impacts our education system has on the development of our kids as they take these steps forward. It’s an integral part of the physical health and well-being of our young people too. This mother from London correctly notes:

“Kids aren’t exercising, they’re not interacting with their peers or even just other people. Those types of behaviours which we know are kind of maladaptive for healthy child development and learning. As a mother of two school-aged children, I think I speak for most families in saying for the good of everyone’s mental health, our children belong in school.”

And this is absolutely true, Speaker. This parent, another one, who understands we cannot afford more uncertainty within our schools, that we cannot afford disruptions to in-class learning—really, this hits the point of the discussion today. Schools are integral to the development of young people. Their social skills, making friends and learning teamwork: All of these foundational skills are developed and enhanced in a school setting. And to take that away, especially after the past two years, is simply unconscionable.

I’d ask those across the aisle to tell me a number of how many more days of learning disruption are you okay with. How many more hours should we sacrifice? Do you agree with the recent CUPE leader who said they admired the 16-day strike in New Brunswick during a recent online town hall? Does the opposition agree that our kids can afford to lose more than two weeks of learning after what they’ve been through in the last two years? Here on this side, this government is clear: We won’t put up with another hour of learning disruption caused by uncertainty.

But even more than social skills and development, schools are an added layer of social support for those students and their families. Sometimes some of us forget that students rely on schools for a number of critical support functions. I think we all know that schools across the province are places where many students get a meal they would not otherwise have at home, so when students are forced out of class it really is, for them, taking food off the table. It’s removing services that they need to live a healthy life. These are real consequences that should not be abstractions to members opposite. These are consequences felt by those who are the most vulnerable in our society. We must acknowledge these consequences because we cannot paint a picture where students aren’t deeply impacted when they no longer have access to a classroom.

Another very real consequence, when in-class learning is disrupted, is felt by the parents at home who rely on our education system for child care. Ontario’s government has signed a historic deal with the federal government to expand child care spaces and affordability across this province, and a key provider of child care, as you know, Speaker, are modern schools where their buildings include publicly funded child care spaces for our kids. So our schools are a critical part of child care for many families across the province.

One mother with a special-needs daughter captured this when she said, “I am a single mother with a special-needs daughter. It’s up to me to pay all the bills and provide all the emotional and physical supports” for my daughter. “I now have a new understanding of how hard life can get....

“With nobody else to care for her, I have had to take several extended leaves of absence from work. With just my income, I couldn’t afford to send her to daycare either. I can’t begin to express the difficulties both my daughter and I faced the last two years. I know parents with special-needs children understand what I’m talking about....”

Mr. Speaker, this is a parent who understands the consequences of learning disruption, and I hope her words are heard by members opposite, because there are real costs—they are real costs to the most vulnerable kids within our schools. When we take away critical supports like this, like school, from these kids—it means the world to them. This is a parent who understands that our schools are critical and we cannot afford uncertainty or disruption to them.

Every MPP across the province has heard stories like the one I’ve just recounted today. They’ve heard the anxiety from parents and the challenges our students have faced. The MPPs here today should listen to these stories. If they did, they would know how much everyone involved with the education system, from parents to students to education workers, want to have their kids in class, uninterrupted, from September right until June.

A father from Hawkesbury was clear when he said, “Speaking on behalf of my family and the families I know, when the kids are home, you’re spending all day with them. As a parent, you have to help them with ... school.... The burden is heavy for parents, but, more importantly, our children are ready to go back....” They want to stay in school.

Kids in class without interruption: That’s the message we’re hearing over and over again in this province. We all know the burden faced by families when their kids aren’t in school. It is something no one wants to see. This is true for parents like the one I just mentioned, a father who understands that his kids need to be in class, because we cannot afford more uncertainty for them.

This is also true for other education workers, and we can’t forget that. Just the other day, I was speaking to the partner of a grade 3 teacher who told me, “It was so hard for [my wife] to be away from her students. Now that the pandemic is ending, she told me how excited she is to be back in the classroom. It is important to her to be there for her kids. She loves it.”

This is not a scenario where it’s us against them. Our teachers and our education workers want to be in classrooms. They love very much these kids, and we are grateful for the service they make to our schools. It’s why we’re investing historic amounts in them—to support them, to hire more of them, to increase the funding within our schools—of almost $35 billion across the education system. That’s why we’re meeting students where they’re at with a one-of-a-kind, publicly funded tutoring program that focuses on reading, on writing and math. It’s why we’ve created Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up.

But, Speaker, none of this matters if kids are not in school on Friday. None of this matters—all of the staff, all of the funding, all of the people—if kids are disrupted again in this province by an education union. A new mother from Kingsville shared with me, who has another child currently in the education system—she implores us to keep kids in class where she said: “I am on mat leave, so I am able to stay home but it is really hard to care for a newborn and still assist with” my child. “Everyone in my house” needs this support, “and I am desperately hoping there won’t be any more interruptions.” This is a parent who is begging us to keep schools open because she, like many parents, cannot afford more disruptions and uncertainty in their lives.

So if students, parents, teachers and education workers all want to be in class without disruption, what is the obstacle? Why are we here? In short, it’s because of the intransigence, the insistence of a union for a strike, the lack of compassion they have for the impacts on our families.

Parents know that union strikes, unfortunately, are nothing new in this province. In just the past 33 years, since 1989, parents and families have had to endure over 2,200 days of union strikes—2,200 days of strikes over the past decades. That means, in just over three decades, families have had to endure more than six full years of strikes when you aggregate all of the local and provincial strikes in the province. Put more simply, for every five and half years, there has been one year of strikes.

Is this sustainable? Do we think this is acceptable? Do we think this is unique to the Progressive Conservative governments of this day, or a commonality that unites every Premier of every party across the province throughout a generation? It is unacceptable, and someone must speak up for parents to say, “Enough.”

On top of that already staggering number, nearly half a year—137 full days—were actually from illegal strike action. And these numbers become even more stark when you understand that a school year is September to June, encompassing 194 days, not a full 365. So just looking at a school year, 2,244 days of strikes equal nearly 11.6 full years of in-class learning disrupted.

That is as stark as it is informative. It is a pattern we have seen from education unions with governments of all stripes: New Democrat, Liberal and PC. Mike Harris, Bob Rae and Dalton McGuinty all faced strikes from education workers. Not much unites them except the unions of the day escalated against the people of the day, parents and the kids in the classroom that depended on being in school. And this pattern raises an important question: At what point must government act to protect the public interest when it is out of line with those special interests? At what point does a government say, “Enough”—that these kids have been through enough?

I think most parents believe in their heart that these kids need to be in school. We have all heard these stories, moving stories of angst of parents, since specifically Sunday, when CUPE decided to announce a five-day strike notice to proceed with a province-wide strike impacting two million kids, closing school boards across the province. That is not a position parents should be in in this province.

Again, because we’ve just established positive routines in our schools, children have been in school for two months—

Interjections.

They have been in school for two months, establishing a positive routine, and I think that is very positive for the kids. It’s amazing to see these children—

Interjections.

I guess the question fundamentally is, do we think that’s acceptable, that every few years in this province, kids are disrupted? I think most reasonable people in this House, but certainly at home, recognize that is an unacceptable proposition for millions of children. We are entrusted with their welfare and best interests. We can’t sit idle. We can’t be a bystander. We have to stand up and take action in defence of public education, which is exactly what the government is doing.

When we listen to the challenges, they’re not very different from past Premiers, and we know the saying is as true today as it was 30 years ago. Kids just went through difficulty and they want to be in school. But unlike the past, unlike the last 30 years, the last two have been unprecedented in human history. We have never seen these impacts on kids. We have never seen the learning loss and mental health adversity. Kids went through such difficulty, with learning regression and mental health difficulty at a national high.

Today Ontario’s government answered the question with absolute clarity: We believe our kids belong in class, and that’s exactly where they will be.

We’re at this point because, after two years of learning disruption in education, unions are at it again. Families across the province are faced with a very real threat that would once again close schools just as life is getting back to normal. It is sad that we’re here in the first place, because we believe the best option is a voluntary agreed-upon option, by all parties. But the union decided on Sunday that they will strike on Friday, not withdrawing their commitment to a strike—imposing hardship, again, on children, on parents and on all communities in the province of Ontario. They signalled they were moving towards a strike even before bargaining had practically begun.

Let’s just remember the context of where we started with CUPE. They introduced the strike notion at the beginning of bargaining. They then opted to move quickly to seek—

Today we know, with this backdrop of the government increasing spending and hiring more staff and introducing new learning tools to get kids caught up, the thought of a disruption is unpalatable and unacceptable to Ontario parents. There is no appetite for this strike.

I want to remind folks here once again that the budget of public education is at the highest level ever recorded in our history. While daily enrolment has remained essentially flat since 2002-03, we’ve added more than 46,000 education workers—that’s 10,000 designated early childhood educators, 19,000 more education workers, 17,000 more teachers and 440 principals and vice-principals in the province. As a result, Ontario has some of the smallest class sizes in the country, because we know how important education is. It’s why we’re making sure our system has the tools and supports in place.

To make sure that our kids have the modern classrooms they need, we made a historic investment of $14 billion over the next 10 years to build new schools and upgrade existing ones. Thanks to the leadership of our Premier, the Minister of Infrastructure and our colleagues across government, we’re getting done what the Liberals couldn’t. We’re building, not closing, schools and creating better futures for students across Ontario. What that looks like is almost half a billion dollars allocated for this year alone to build schools in Ontario.

We are building on a track record of success in this respect, because since 2018 Ontario’s government has approved nearly 200 school construction projects and the development of more than 300 child care and education building projects and more than 100 major projects and schools are being built as we speak. This is going to make a profound difference in the life of a child—and that’s on top of 88 additions and renovations to existing facilities. As we move forward towards making sure every parent and family in Ontario has a child care space, that includes part of 6,458 new spaces approved since 2019.

Speaker, I say this to provide relevant context of where we are at—a government that has increased investments in public education to the highest levels ever recorded in Ontario history; a government that has increased funding per student in every school board; hired more staff—7,000 education workers alone hired under this Progressive Conservative government; a government that has increased funding to parents of nearly $2 billion in direct financial support; and a government that has offered our education workers higher pay, the maintenance of the best benefits and pensions and sick leave, because we value them and we also recognize that they play a critical role in our schools.

What’s become clear more than ever in our education system is that our education workers and our teachers now have the resources they need to keep kids in the classroom. But the barrier to this today is a union on a path to a strike, intransigent in their commitment to a nearly 50% increase in pay and benefits. That’s what today is about. It’s why we are here, because a union on Sunday—an education union this past Sunday, Speaker—announced in this province that they will strike on Friday, and this government is taking action to ensure kids remain in school on Friday and every day this year.

If you listen to the members opposite, would they have just permitted the strike? Would they have sat idle over the past three decades—because there were strikes under the NDP of course in the early 1990s, you will recall, for those of us in publicly funded schools. It happens too often in Ontario, and I think parents and students deserve better.

It’s now more clear than ever that we have to stand up for our kids. That’s what today is about. It’s about keeping students in school and putting an end to more than six years of strikes over the past three decades. Families must be able to depend on and trust our education system to provide our next generation with the tools they need to succeed.

Today our government is making sure that our kids will be in class uninterrupted until June, getting the education they deserve. The Legislature is in a unique position to offer parents absolute certainty that all of us are united in one purpose: to get our kids back on track after two extraordinary years, and that starts with ensuring students remain in class this Friday.

With education funded at its highest levels in our history, with new and expanded tutoring supports and with Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up, our kids, our educators and our schools can recover from the learning loss experienced globally from these past two years of the pandemic. And it starts, Speaker, as the most basic principle of this plan: The philosophy that underpins this strategy is keeping kids in class.

We owe it to our students to make sure they do not take an even bigger bite out of their educational journey. We owe it to them to put an end to a pattern of education strikes that has taken literally years away from our children. And we owe it to them, Mr. Speaker, to pass this bill to make sure our children and our students have the opportunities to become the leaders we know they can be.

Mr. Speaker, when I spoke to parents of the province of Ontario over the past months, they’ve all been clear. In one parent’s words last night on Halloween, “Our kids have been through hell. They deserve to be in school. Everyone knows this.” That message resonated with me, because I think we’ve all seen the impacts on children, either your own kids, nieces and nephews—those around us that we love.

That is an unacceptable proposition for any responsible government, especially when knowing we are increasing our wages for workers every single year over the course of this program, increasing benefits every single year over the course of this program, maintaining perhaps the best education pension plan in the federation and 131 days of sick leave. That is a competitive offer because we pay them—we’re going to hear from members opposite perhaps a different story—$27, on average, an hour. They make more in Ontario than any province east and west of us.

We’ve increased pay every year in the program we’re offering today in this legislation, and should it pass, we will reaffirm our commitment to them by providing job security, sick leave, pensions, benefits and increasing pay for themselves and their families. We’re hiring more of them—1,800 more, specifically—as part of this contract with education workers and roughly another net new 800 teachers, supported by our government’s funding. This will make a difference in our schools. But as I said, Speaker, we didn’t want to be here in the first place.

We signed voluntary deals with every education union in the province of Ontario just two or three years ago. We got a deal with every education union just a few years ago. And it’s sad that we’re here, because we gave the union an offering to avert this needless strike. They showed up on Sunday and they made clear their commitment that they will not withdraw or rescind their commitment to a strike. That’s unfair. That is unfair to students and to parents, and I believe it’s incumbent on the government to stand up for the rights of children to be in class. Yes, because we do believe kids have a right to be in school. We believe that shouldn’t be upended every couple of years in Ontario. Locally, provincially, it’s just a problem, and it creates a great deal of challenge for the people we represent.

And so when we understand the context of why we are here—the funding increases in our schools, the stories of parents with very real struggles in Ontario—when we hear of these concerns observed in our province, the question we must ask ourselves is, what will we do if the union will strike?

I suppose the members opposite may say, “Well, accept the offer of the union. Accept the nearly 50% increase in compensation and all will go away.” Right? That’s not an option of any responsible government. It’s why they sit there and the government is entrusted here to make the difficult decisions of what is affordable, sustainable and fair for the workers in our schools and in the province of Ontario.

It’s why we brought forth a deal that we believe provides stability. But the first principle in this negotiation must be the acceptance that we’ve got to be in school, that parents shouldn’t have to be further burdened by a strike, a needless strike, at a time when children have faced unprecedented difficulties in their lives.

What is the moral imperative that guides us as legislators if not to stand up for the interests of children who, again, are facing another strike in a matter of days? We have an obligation to our children, to the next generation, to the parents who pay the bills, to ensure their kids remain in school. This is a bill rooted in common sense and learned experience because the entire western world has watched as education took a massive hit from the pandemic and the strikes that preceded it uniquely in this province.

We’ve seen the impact it’s had on our kids. After these kids have established routines, have benefited immensely from being in school with clubs and sports, I believe we have to uphold that obligation to them, to the next generation, to ensure that their right to learn is protected, it is supported, it is championed in this province.

Mr. Speaker, we have been clear on our commitment since day one. We will stand to ensure children remain in class. We will advance the principle that children must be in school. I didn’t expect that to be controversial this morning. I thought we all would agree with the premise. But what we’re going to hear from the opposition is perhaps not a clear position on do they support the strike or not. And I’d like to know, do you support the strike on Friday or not? Will you agree and stand in solidarity with the workers on Friday on the picket lines or will you be with parents, will you stand with parents—

Interjections.

I heard the minister opposite tie himself in knots trying to explain away why this government needs to legislate workers back to work who have not left work. Classrooms in this province were closed for 27 weeks—the worst record during the pandemic of any province, and pretty much anywhere in the world—

Interjections.

Interjections.

I’m getting to the best part, member from Brampton North.

These investments include an additional $683 million in this budget we just passed for this year’s funding to school boards, for a total of $26.6 billion. I want to compare this to the NDP-backed Liberal government just a few short years ago, Speaker. Our Progressive Conservative government and this Premier are investing more than $2.7 billion this year compared to the final year of the last previous Liberal government. This clearly demonstrates our commitment to improving student success, in contrast to the failed policies and practices of the previous NDP-backed Liberal government. These investments will go directly into our children’s classrooms to ensure they receive the top-quality education they deserve and the high standard of learning parents rightly demand.

What our students learn in the classroom is directly correlated to their future success. As such, we must continue to update Ontario’s various curricula, guaranteeing the instruction of necessary life and job skills to support a family and one day realize the dream of home ownership, and everything else included in the Canadian dream.

The previous Liberal government failed at nearly every turn to ensure our children’s studies kept up with the changing times. Neglected by the previous Liberal government, Ontario schools failed to address a rapidly changing world. I’ll provide an example, Speaker: Ontario’s elementary science and technology curriculum, which this government, under Minister Lecce, swiftly modernized, was last updated in 2007, the year Facebook and Twitter came online. This is unacceptable, and our government has made it a priority to constantly look for new ways to update and modernize curricula in ways that best work for students.

Another example includes Ontario’s grade 9 math curriculum, which the Liberals neglected to update since 2008, the same year the iPhone 3G was introduced. This neglect was shameful, and that’s partly why, in 2018 and again in 2022, the people of Ontario sent the Ontario Liberal Party to be independent members on the opposite benches in record-low numbers, and elected this party and this Premier, not once but twice, with a greater majority. Speaker, in doing so, the people of Ontario have given our government a renewed mandate to ensure student success is well-funded and looked after, and, most importantly, that students remain in class.

Ontario’s students deserve to learn in an environment that best equips them for the future. Our schools will finally include financial literacy, something the opposition previously neglected. For the first time, Ontario students will learn about mortgages, interest payments and the impacts of debt accumulation. These are foundational aspects of sound fiscal management which will help them succeed in life.

Students in Ontario and, indeed, across this nation and the western world have experienced declines in math. This cannot be understated, and we will not allow it to be so. We are investing $25 million in a new skills-focused curriculum that will ensure every board has a math specialist available with a special focus on early intervention. This government is also fighting the unions in court to ensure educators meet grade 9 math standards. Our students deserve no less than this common-sense requirement for education, and our government will keep taking every step necessary to ensure teachers are well-equipped to do their job.

For the past four years, this government placed a critical emphasis on science, engineering, technology and math, or STEM studies, in our classrooms. These subjects contain not only the keys to many successful futures for our students, but they represent areas of need in this province that will grow as time progresses. The success of Ontario’s future economy depends on the actions we take now. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is ensuring that students will now explore how science relates to careers in the skilled trades and how emerging and new technologies impact these careers. These new learning expectations within the curriculum will ensure Ontario’s students are at the forefront of emerging innovation and thought, and able to compete in the global economy.

Our government has transformed the curriculum to now emphasize STEM education across all grades, embedding life and job skills that will support the next generation of scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs. For the first time in Ontario’s history, the revised curriculum includes required learning on real-world connections between science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And it includes food literacy. Coming from Perth–Wellington, it is great to see that that is included in the curriculum as well at such a young age, teaching our students the importance of our agricultural sector, food and healthy eating.

This government is also committed to building state-of-art schools which will play a major role in providing top-quality education spaces for Ontario students who need them now more than ever. Our classrooms are critical to the learning recovery for our students.

But, Speaker, we know that success inside the classroom can always use some help from outside the classroom. It is for this reason our government invested $176 million to expand free school-based—through school boards—tutoring supports, the largest publicly funded tutoring program ever in Canada for the students who need it the most. This investment will be used to improve the foundational reading and writing skills of our earliest learners, and to support them with better math literacy after a global decline during the two-year pandemic-related disruptions. This follows our government’s $15-million investment to deliver expanded summer learning opportunities.

Of course, Speaker, we know that schools provide much more than a space for education. Schools have always been important social settings for our kids to make friends and build life-lasting relationships. So it is clear, particularly for our young people, that pandemic-related disruptions have had a profound impact on the mental health of young people. Speaker, mental health is health. Our government and this Premier have made it a point to expand access to mental health supports well before the pandemic, but now more than ever, our children need our help.

This government is proud to have invested a historic $90 million in mental health supports for students, including an additional $10 million in new funding to expand access to much-needed mental health supports. For context, this investment represents a 420% increase on investment compared to the last mandate of the Wynne Liberal government. On this side of the chamber, we understand the critical importance that schools play in the lives of our students. That is why we must fight to make sure they stay in class, where they deserve to be.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support our newly re-elected government’s continued determination to provide financial relief to hard-working Ontario families. It is real and tangible economic support at the most crucial of times that also respects the choice of parents. Through Support for Families, Support for Learners and the COVID-19 child benefit, our government, under our last mandate, made over $1.6 billion available in financial relief to Ontario families in the uncertain economic times of the pandemic. Mr. Speaker, it was shameful that the opposition voted against all three initiatives to support families and provide relief.

Recently, this government has added to already historic levels of direct support to parents, as I mentioned, by announcing the education catch-up payments, which I am pleased to say, as of this morning, 972,000 families have applied for. This is $365 million in financial relief put directly in the pockets of Ontario parents, which will help ensure our students recover from learning losses accrued during the pandemic and allow parents, who are best suited to make these decisions, to do so.

It is worth noting that every step of the way, as I mentioned, the NDP and the Liberals have opposed this financial relief because they believe in a one-size-fits-all approach drawn up by downtown Toronto bureaucrats far away from the families in need.

There is only one political party in this Legislature which consistently stands on the side of parents, and I’m proud to be a member of that party supporting parents and providing stability to students at every turn.

CUPE’s decision to walk out on students in this province by imposing a needless, but predictable, strike only proves their lack of support for the ones who need it the most: the students.

Speaker, I would like to take the time to set the record straight in this place: At no point, throughout the months of negotiation, has CUPE budged on their demand for a nearly 50% increase in compensation over four years—

Interjections.

Something that I really want to point out here, because all I’m hearing from the government side—I’m not surprised; they’re Conservatives—is anti-union rhetoric. So I want to be clear: These education workers, the lowest-paid education workers, who make on average $39,000 a year or less, are not on strike. They’re not on strike. It hasn’t happened yet. And yet you have this bill that you tabled yesterday ready to go, and stand here and attack these workers. You talk about them keeping students out of school—these workers aren’t on strike. CUPE education workers have had zero days over the last eight years of being on strike. They’re not keeping kids out of classrooms, this government is keeping kids out of classrooms. That’s what’s happening.

As my colleague from Davenport pointed out, because of this government’s bad policies and lack of investment in the education system, there were 27 weeks that schools were shut down—27 weeks, the worst record in Canada and one of the worst in the entire world. It was you keeping kids out of school, and you know, while you were doing that, these education workers, these EAs, were still in the classrooms supporting some of the most vulnerable students. And you have the nerve to bring this kind of legislation forward and to sit there, smugly mocking me for what I’ve said, and attack these workers.

My colleagues that have spoken so far have all done a wonderful job of talking about how these workers work two, three jobs in some cases and have to go to the food bank to feed their families.

The Daily Bread Food Bank put out a report. The title of it: Government Public Policy Drives Number of Food Bank Visits. It’s a new report. Government policy—your policy—is driving the increase in the need for food banks. And when you all stand over there, especially the Minister of Education, and say, “This is about equity of access. This is about food security for students”—if you weren’t suppressing the wages of these education workers, if you weren’t suppressing the wages of our health care workers, if you weren’t suppressing the wages of those that work in developmental services, they wouldn’t be relying on food banks. It wouldn’t be happening.

And because you all seem completely unaware of the reality in the education system, it’s the education workers, out of their own pockets—those lowest-paid education workers, making under $40,000 a year—who are then taking money out of their own pockets to ensure that those students, when they come to school, have something to eat, to ensure that in the colder months they have a coat and a scarf and mittens. Because not only are you undervaluing and underpaying their parents and forcing their parents to go to food banks, you’re doing it to the workers in the education system and then saying, “Hey, it’s those greedy workers that are causing the problem.” That’s what you’re saying. It’s absolutely shameful.

I want to point out what my colleague pointed out, that there are 73 people on that side of the House—just after this election alone. The Premier increased, created—magically created—parliamentary assistants, who got a $16,000 pay bump. They were making $116,500 a year already, plus expenses, and they got $16,000. But these folks, who make under $40,000 a year, are greedy and unreasonable? Are you kidding me?

Should we talk about the ministers on that side of the House, that during the election it came out that the ministers—$165,000 a year, plus expenses—were taking money from their riding associations and saying, “Totally acceptable. We’re struggling to cover the cost of food and everyday essentials.” Are you kidding me? And then you stand here with this bill?

Speaker, in the last minute and a half that I have, I want to point out—I have to point out—these education workers: largely a women-led profession. Nurses: largely a women-led profession. Developmental service workers: largely women-led. We don’t see this government coming for the public servants that are largely led by men in the field.

What this legislation says to every single woman in this province—and I cannot believe that we’re still having to have this conversation and debate this crap and have this fight—what this is saying to every woman in the province is what they’ve been saying for centuries—centuries—to women: “Just go sit in the corner over there and be quiet.” These women are speaking up, and you’re saying, “Go sit in the corner and be quiet. Here’s the scraps we’re going to give you, and you’d best be happy about it. And because you actually”—heaven forbid, as a woman—“had the nerve to speak up and fight back,” this government brings in this kind of legislation—

Interjection: Bullies.

—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?

This piece of legislation that the Conservative government is putting forth will not keep students in classrooms. What it will do is hurt education workers. It will hurt students. It will hurt parents, quite frankly.

I am wondering why the government thinks it’s okay for them to have a salary that allows them to buy a home, rent a home and have groceries for the month, and why education workers need to be at food banks. Why is this government allowing for education workers to do unpaid labour in a sector where they’re leaving in droves because of the abuse they’re facing?

Speaker, I thank you for the valuable opportunity to stand in this House and address the assembly on this important day and to discuss the Keeping Students in Class Act, 2022.

I would like to begin by stating something which goes without saying: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about some of the most difficult times for many Ontarians, but especially for Ontario’s students. During these unprecedented times, many parents expressed struggles and frustrations about their children’s well-being. I know that many parents were challenged to balance the demands of what it meant to be a parent, which included finding a difficult work-life balance and ensuring their children’s mental health, academic and social progress would continue to develop.

While students displayed incredible resilience and flexibility, I also know that the pivot to full-time online learning came with its unique challenges for many Ontario students. For the last two years, remote learning played an important role in the delivery of education, but the pandemic also demonstrated its limitations.

It is time for students to continue their education in person, supported by many benefits only found in schools, all of which positively contribute to their academic, social and physical growth.

As a parent and a long-time education champion advocating for parents and students in Ontario schools, I stand today to firmly express that our children must remain in class for the rest of the school year in a normal, stable learning environment. Therefore, any learning disruption in schools will not tolerated by the government.

I recently ran into a mother who gave birth last year while two of her older kids were learning virtually. Everyone knows it’s a hard job being a parent. It comes with great responsibility and the balancing of competing challenges. The additional stress placed on parents and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic caused many negative effects, including emotional and physical isolation that prohibited their children from cultivating essential skills that are necessary for their overall development.

As an immigrant from Jamaica who came to Ontario as a teenager, I also know how difficult the last two years have been for newcomer parents and children. Moving into a new environment is challenging on its own merit, but, coupled with COVID-19, can intensify the isolation and desperation for community and resources.

I know of newcomer students and parents who moved to Ontario right before the COVID-19 lockdowns, and the pivot to remote learning was isolating and caused depression. For these newcomer students, this September is their very first time to be in school, learning, in Canada. During the last two years, they didn’t have many opportunities to get connected and to feel supported. Newcomer students have eagerly been waiting for the day they can make friends and join social clubs at their schools to better help themselves integrate and succeed in Ontario.

Speaker, the possibility of strikes is stealing the stability and normalcy newcomer students have been looking towards.

I would like to outline why our government is fighting so hard to keep students in class and why we will continue to support Ontario parents. I will elaborate further in the coming minutes, but to put it simply, we believe what is best for students is to be surrounded by available academic, mental and physical resources only accessible in schools.

Before I delve further into why students must remain in school for in-person learning right through to the month of June, I’d like to acknowledge and admire the inspiring resilience and flexibility many students displayed amid the learning disruptions caused by COVID-19. The strength students showed is nothing short of remarkable. Speaker, I would like to take this chance to appreciate and thank them, as they worked hard to mitigate the academic, social and economic implications of the pandemic. I’ve spoken to students who have talked about missing two years, of wanting to go back and relive, especially, the social pieces around graduations, proms and many after-school sports.

In my inaugural speech, I spoke of a high school student in Ajax whose entire high school career was marked by disruption, until this past September 2022. For the last two years, he’s longed for and dreamt about a return to a normal and stable school year. His dream is now being threatened once again.

I would like to ask everyone to imagine being a high school student without ever experiencing a normal and stable school year. Can you see why students want to remain in school for in-person learning, where they not only have access to academic supports but also ample opportunities to socialize and to learn from their peers?

Thanks to our government, under Premier Ford, the student I’m speaking of has now been given a glimpse of a normal, stable school year, and he wants to continue. But the possibility of learning disruptions is making him anxious. This emotional stress of once again not being in school will affect not only his studies but his overall well-being.

Various experts, such as the Children’s Health Coalition and the Chief Medical Officer of Health, have indicated that in-person learning is critical to a student’s ability to succeed academically.

Speaker, in-person learning also creates a stable learning environment for students to access additional physical and mental health supports. But it does so much more. Students are able to connect with their peers, which enhances their social skills. We have heard that there are students who are really struggling with this right now.

Our government has established many supports that students need to succeed in their studies. We have provided tangible supports and additional funding to schools to protect the safety of students, changed the curriculum to best fit our student population and future careers, and continued to support parents with direct financial support in uncertain economic times.

The most recent EQAO assessments showed a global decline in every subject except grade 6 reading. Grade 3 students experienced a four-point decline in reading, a seven-point decline in writing, and a small drop in math—Grade 6 students saw a further three-point. Grade 9 followed the same trend, with math scores dropping 23 points for English-language students and 25 points for French-language students. That is a real problem—and that’s even more profound for French-language students, who saw a 33% drop. Our government is committed to improving these scores.

Our government is investing in foundational learning supports in reading and math. To support learning recovery, $25 million is being invested in evidence-based reading programs and professional assessments. We are placing a special emphasis on math recovery and literacy strategies, building on our government’s previous investments to ensure Ontario students have the support they need to succeed.

We are also looking to expand on previous investments for our four-year math strategy, investing $50 million for the 2022-23 year to ensure students have the necessary supports they need to succeed and improve their math performance. Our government is going further by providing more digital math resources, accessible by students for additional review and practice. This includes elementary math course packs provided by TVO and TFO as well as the newly destreamed grade 9 math course.

We are continuing to modernize our curriculum to best reflect Ontario’s student population and their future careers. Ontario’s new math curriculum for grades 1 to 9 focuses on fundamental math skills, practical examples, and new mandatory learning on coding, data literacy and financial literacy.

Our government is establishing math leads in every school board as well as providing school-based math coaches. We believe in supporting teachers to do what they love to do, which is to educate Ontario students, so we are providing teacher-training initiatives that teachers have access to 24/7. Over 140 school-based math coaches in over 700 targeted schools will provide training directly to teachers in classrooms. To date, over 5,000 teachers have completed additional qualifications in math through these investments, and up to an additional 4,000 will be taking these qualifications this year. And the Ministry of Education will work directly with school boards through a new math action team that will have expertise in promoting the use of high-impact math teaching practices in Ontario classrooms.

We believe in setting students up for success. This also means creating pathways for the skilled trades. Our government, under Premier Ford, will continue our focus on science, technology and math—STEM—education to build critical life and job skills so students can graduate with well-paying jobs. For the past four years, this government has placed a critical emphasis on STEM studies in our classrooms. These subjects contain not only the keys to many successful futures for our children, but they also represent areas of need in this province that will only grow with time. The success of Ontario’s future economy depends on the actions we take right now. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is ensuring that students will now explore how science relates to careers in the skilled trades and how emerging and new technologies can impact these careers.

These new learning expectations within the curriculum will ensure Ontario students are at the forefront of emerging innovation and thought and able to compete in the global economy.

Speaker, that is not all our government is doing to support student success. Additional resources are also available through the $550.7-million Learning Opportunities Grant and other allocations within the Grants for Student Needs, GSNs, for the 2022-23 school year.

Summer learning opportunities were made available, including credit, upgrading and non-credit courses funded through the Grants for Student Needs, as well as summer learning programs, including expanded opportunities for targeted student populations.

To better support student resilience and mental well-being, our government stabilized the student mental health funding provided in 2021-22 by securing it in the 2022-23 Grants for Student Needs, and is providing an additional $10 million to foster the continued learning and well-being of students. This represents an investment of over $90 million in total funding for the 2022-23 school year to support student mental health in Ontario.

In addition, our government has invested $304 million through the GSN for staffing supports, the hiring of teachers, early childhood educators and other education workers to address learning recovery, the implementation of the first year of fully destreamed grade 9 math, the delivery of remote learning and special-education supports, and the maintenance of enhanced cleaning standards.

Most recently, we are providing direct financial supports to parents through our catch-up payments. The catch-up payments are directly placed in the pockets of parents because we believe parents know what is most needed to support their children. All students in kindergarten to grade 12 will receive a payment of $200, while students with special needs will receive a payment of $250.

Speaker, our government is one that cares and believes that investing in Ontario students is important. So far, over 800,000 parents have submitted their application to receive direct payments that enable them to fill their child’s education needs as they see fit. The availability of catch-up payments is putting more money back into Ajax parents’ pockets and helping students overcome learning gaps created during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have provided the largest investment in learning supports in the country, with over $175 million provided to boards to enhance in-school tutoring programs.

Previously, our government developed three unprecedented family support payment programs. Through the COVID-19 child benefit, we provided relief to over two million children with well over $800 million. Through Support for Families, we provided supports to families with more than $320 million. We also provided over $400 million through Support for Learners to help families face new education-related expenses.

Speaker, we have invested in Ontario students to mitigate the learning losses caused by the pandemic. Our government’s unwavering commitment to keep kids in school is also supported by many families. Parents and students would like to restore some balance in their lives, and they welcome additional supports from our government.

In the last month, I’ve met students and parents and listened to their concerns and heard their academic hopes and dreams. Many parents have mentioned that their children are losing soft skills that are crucial to their well-being and success in life. The one word I kept hearing repeatedly that challenged students’ hopes of achieving academic excellence was the word “uncertainty”—the words of missing out, the words of being labelled “the COVID generation.” They were uncertain if schools will remain open for in-person learning. Students are worried that they will not be able to see their friends and that they will be isolated again. The possibility of a strike brought forward by CUPE is increasing their anxiety and stress levels.

I’d like to highlight the total number of strike days that unions have imposed on Ontarian students and parents: between the years 1989 to 2020, that’s 2,224 strike days—I’d like to point out that 1,031 of those days were under the nose of the previous NDP government—with more than a million staff members who walked away from their jobs and imposed uncertainty on Ontario families. The impacts on students and parents were severe on many occasions, with classroom disruptions, financial challenges to find proper daycare, and the emotional and mental struggle of having to reconfigure their work schedule to match the needs of their children.

Despite our government’s best efforts and students hoping to remain in class for in-person learning, the NDP and Liberal members claim that supporting parents is irresponsible of our government. They’re asking why we’re providing direct financial supports to families when our government has already provided tutoring supports for in-class tutoring.

Why is the NDP fighting to disrupt students’ opportunity to succeed in a safe environment that not only allows them to thrive academically but also supports their mental and physical well-being?

The opposition would like us to take the money we dedicated to parents and supply it elsewhere. They’re adamant that politicians like themselves know better than a parent of a child.

Here’s my answer: Yes, we have provided additional funding to school boards. And yes, we have ensured schools are well equipped with what is necessary to keep our kids in school safely for in-person learning. And, yes, students can access tutoring supports through their school board. Online tutoring programs enable students to receive one-on-one supports from certified teachers, both through Mathify and Eureka!

I will repeat what I’ve said already: Many parents have spoken up and expressed that lockdowns have been especially difficult for their kids. Lockdowns have really impacted their social connections. Parents are talking about students being connected to their devices and not being social and not connecting with their peers.

Speaker, our government has recognized and demonstrated the additional support students need to make in-person learning our best option. We provided additional funding to school boards to hire more staff and invest in their infrastructure so students can access quality education in person with their peers.

Keeping kids in school is also supporting families. Our government is providing choice and flexibility to families to meet the needs of their students directly and to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 disruption. It is important for us to address these needs in a timely manner, and providing direct support will ensure tailored supports for each child.

The additional supports our government is providing are to ensure our education ecosystem continues to benefit Ontario students. Students are able to best utilize these resources if they remain in school for in-person learning from September right into the month of June. Parents and students alike are looking to be relieved from the limitations of online learning.

As I come to the end of my speech, I would like to ask the opposition, why are they so opposed to providing relief to families? Or is their position, as the opposition, to oppose everything our government is trying to accomplish by supporting Ontario’s parents, students and caregivers? Lastly, why does CUPE insist on disrupting in-person learning and contributing to student loss?

As I stated at the start of my remarks, over the last two years the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the delivery of education in Ontario and students’ achievement has been greatly impacted.

The Minister of Education stated, “It could not be clearer that we must keep students in class without disruption, with a focus on ... reading, writing and math—after two years of pandemic-related learning disruptions.”

I want to ask the member—she was a trustee; she has come from the education system—if special education, as she mentioned, is so important and it harms the most vulnerable students to not have these educators in our classrooms, why are you harming vulnerable students by forcing their support system out of the workforce? You’re forcing these education workers, who are paid so poorly that they’re driven out of the province or they’re driven to other jobs, to find enough to make a good living.

I actually got a message this morning from one worker who told me that she slept in her car between shifts at school and her other job because they cannot make enough and do the jobs that they need to do.

These are the people you’re hurting. These are the people you’re driving out of their jobs. And as a result, what happens? The vulnerable students are the ones who are getting harmed. How do you justify that?

I appreciate the question. I think that all of us on this side of the House have been very clear that workers deserve to be fairly compensated and they deserve to bargain the compensation that they’re going to receive at a bargaining table through fair and free collective negotiations. This government has decided to invoke an imposed contract on these workers rather than sitting down in good faith to talk about what kind of a deal will compensate them fairly and preserve the supports that our children receive in Ontario classrooms.

Our education workers provide a vital, essential service in this province. They deserve to be fairly and adequately compensated for that.

I rise in this chamber to voice my full support for our government’s plan to catch up and for the actions we are taking to ensure our province’s children can enjoy a normal school year.

I speak to you not only as a minister and as an MPP but also as a mother. My children have always been blessed with amazing education workers in their schools.

But why we’re here today is to ensure that children are staying in school.

For the first time in two years, children are back in their classrooms and they’re experiencing an academic year expected to be free of disruptions.

Ontario schools are safe for in-person learning, thanks in part to the over $3.2 billion in COVID-19 resources we provided to school boards since the start of the pandemic and the major improvements we have made to air quality and ventilation in schools in every corner of the province.

Hard-working parents in Simcoe North have made their expectations clear. They want their kids in school and learning alongside their peers right up until the academic end of year in June.

I was speaking to Kim last evening, a grandmother, and she was explaining how important it is for her grandson to stay in school. She also commented that this has been going on since the times when her daughter was in school. Students need to be in the classroom.

I believe that Simcoe North families, and indeed all families across Ontario, deserve a normal school year after two years of pandemic-related disruptions.

Today, Madam Speaker, Ontario students are back in the classrooms where they belong. The 2022-23 academic year is two months’ old and is going very well so far. Moreover, students are benefiting from the full school experience, including sports, band, field trips and after-school extracurricular clubs and activities.

The purpose of education is, of course, to prepare our young people for the jobs of tomorrow, but school is also about spending time with friends, sharing a laugh or two and, of course, achieving personal goals. Those goals might include displaying excellence on the football field, mastering an unfamiliar song, captivating an audience by acting in the school play, or raising money for a worthwhile community cause.

Madam Speaker, I hope that everyone in this chamber can agree that in-person learning is essential for the mental and physical health, as well as the overall well-being, of Ontario students.

It is true the pandemic demonstrated the usefulness of online or remote learning, and I definitely saw that in my own ministry. Remote learning certainly has a role to play in the delivery of education, but the pandemic also demonstrated its limitations. I know every member in this chamber has heard from constituents of ours about the difficulties during the pandemic with online learning, and especially with young children at home.

For the past two years, our kids were isolated. Many students had trouble adapting to remote learning, and some even experienced physical and mental health challenges—and that’s for those people who had access to Internet, and stable Internet. I know many of us were working from home, had children trying to learn from home—and in rural ridings, we know that can be difficult. It’s not surprising, considering the COVID-19 pandemic was a frightening time for all Ontarians, but especially for children, who lost two years of normal school experience.

Thankfully, Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up includes significant investments to help students cope with these anxieties. In fact, we are delivering a $90-million investment in student mental health supports. That includes $10 million in new funding, and it represents a 420% increase in student mental health funding compared to the previous NDP-backed Liberal government’s plan in 2017-18.

The simple truth is that mental health is health. We cannot begin to fix all the damage caused by the pandemic without acknowledging this fact and providing meaningful mental health supports for our young people.

Student mental health is just one issue that needs to be addressed. The reality of this once-in-a-lifetime pandemic meant students would face new obstacles in their education. Now, as we emerge from the pandemic and return to our normal lives, we need to be prepared to help those young people who bore the weight of many public health restrictions.

Students are excited to be back in the classroom, to see their friends and their teachers, and to be back to normal activities. Although I don’t have young children at home anymore, I know, from watching the news on back-to-school day and seeing the young kids who were super excited to be out there talking to the reporters—even their parents—how excited they were to return to normal and to see their teachers, to see their friends, and to have those fun learning activities in class.

A global trend emerged, and it has become visible in the United Kingdom, the United States and across Canada. Students across the country and around the world experienced similar challenges with remote learning and other pandemic-related disruptions to education. In a nutshell, we are seeing steep declines in math, reading and writing.

As the recently released EQAO results demonstrate, that trend is unfortunately visible here in Ontario as well. As the Minister of Colleges and Universities, I find it troubling as that continues, possibly into high school and into the post-secondary world—the possibility of that.

The EQAO assessments showed a decline in every subject field except for grade 6 reading. Grade 3 students experienced a four-point decline in reading, a seven-point decline in writing, and a small drop in mathematics. Grade 6 students saw a further three-point decline in math, from 50 to 47. This is a real problem, and it is even more profound for French-language students, who saw a 33-point drop. Grade 9 followed the same trend, with math scores dropping 23 points for English-language students and 25 points for French-language students.

Learning gaps created by the pandemic are a significant problem, but it is important to put things in their proper context. In Colorado, for instance, only 27% of students tested in the spring of 2021 met or exceeded state math standards, while here in Ontario 67% of grade 3 students met or exceeded provincial math standards. In a comparative sense, Ontario is in better shape than other jurisdictions, and I want to make that clear. But it does not mean that we can afford to rest on our laurels. More work needs to be done.

It is for that reason that Ontario’s Plan to Catch Up includes the largest tutoring program in Ontario’s history. Our government is investing $176 million to expand access to free, school-based tutoring so thousands of Ontario students can utilize learning resources in their communities to help them succeed. Since April of this year, over 150,000 students as well as over 18,000 special-education students have accessed local board-provided tutoring supports. In addition, many parents have taken their own initiative and invested in tutoring supports for their own children.

Our government believes parents should be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their children’s education, and we were elected to make life more affordable for hard-working families in my riding of Simcoe North, as well as across Ontario. For those reasons, our government recently announced the availability of catch-up payments to parents. As you know, Madam Speaker, our government delivered over $1.6 billion in direct payments to parents through three dedicated support programs to help families cover the costs of child care and at-home learning created by the pandemic.

I am proud to say that we are going even further by investing $365 million in direct financial relief to parents, who could use some extra support in uncertain times to help their kids catch up. Through this program, parents with school-aged children up to 18 years will receive $200 per child. Parents with school-aged children with special-education needs up to 21 years of age will receive $250 per child. Being at home this weekend, I talked to many constituents, when I was out, who mentioned that they had already signed up and were accessing the program and were very happy about the additional supports.

I am told that over 970,000 applications for catch-up payments have been submitted, which amounts to over one third of eligible students in our province. Applications for catch-up payments will remain open until March 31, 2023. Madam Speaker, I hope that you and all honourable members of this House will encourage parents of school-aged children in our respective ridings to apply as soon as possible. We need these additional supports.

As an aside, I think another big reason Ontario students may have weathered the pandemic storm a bit better than students in other jurisdictions is that our government is strongly committed to improving public education, and we are delivering tangible results. Our government is providing school boards with $26.6 billion in total funding for the 2022-23 school year, which is the highest investment in public education in Ontario’s history. Average per pupil funding through the Grants for Student Needs program has risen to over $13,000, which is an 2.7% increase over last year and yet another record high.

Our government has also been busy updating the curriculum to ensure it does a better job of preparing young people for the jobs of tomorrow. We are taking these actions because the world is changing, and the stakes could not be higher. As technology advances, the global economy is increasingly becoming a digital economy. We must adjust to the reality or run the risk of getting left behind. It is estimated that more than 40% of jobs in Canada are at elevated risk of getting disrupted by technology and computers.

Moreover, Ontario is in the middle of a skilled labour shortage of nearly 370,000 unfilled jobs just here in this province. And one of the most crucial labour shortages is in the skilled trades. We will need at least 100,000 additional trades workers over the next decade to build desperately needed housing for Ontarians. By 2025, it is estimated that one in five jobs in Ontario will be in the skilled trades, but the average age of people entering the trades is 29.

Madam Speaker, since our government was first elected in 2018, we have addressed this challenge by reviewing and updating the province’s curriculum. More specifically, this has meant making financial literacy and digital fluency key priorities, investing $200 million to support a four-year math strategy; teaching valuable transferable skills such as leadership, communication, collaboration and critical thinking; improving science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM learning; and my favourite, promoting the skilled trades as a top-choice career path for young people and increasing awareness of and access to apprenticeship programs.

Two years ago, we launched an updated elementary math curriculum that teaches coding skills starting as early as grade 1. Mandatory learning on coding from grades 1 to 9 will further enshrine Ontario as a STEM leader.

Last year, our government launched a destreamed grade 9 math course that builds on earlier skilled trades-related learning and drills down on financial literacy, including interest rates and budgeting.

And earlier this year, we introduced a new science and technology curriculum, including a destreamed grade 9 science course.

Madam Speaker, our government is making progress improving STEM learning in schools and in promoting skilled trades as a first career choice.

In my former ministry of women and children’s issues, I was an advocate for women entering the skilled trades and starting this in early grades and really allowing girls to have the opportunity to use their hands. We have a great opportunity to increase the number of women in skilled trades and promote the great opportunities and advantages they will have.

These are key reasons why I believe Ontario students will effectively catch up and overcome any learning gaps created by the pandemic. Mind you, my assessment is based on there being no further disruptions to student learning this school year.

Unfortunately, the leadership of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, or CUPE, has threatened a strike that could put over 55,000 education workers, custodians, early childhood educators and administrative staff on the picket lines at the worst possible time.

Let me be clear, Madam Speaker: Our government deeply respects Ontario education workers and the valuable work they do. I see it every day. I’ve seen it in my own children’s learning over the years. We have the utmost respect for them. School custodians and early childhood educators are excellent examples of unsung heroes who performed their jobs magnificently during the pandemic.

That said, it is completely irresponsible for the leadership of CUPE to rile up its members by making completely—

My question is for the Premier. I want to be clear: I want students back in school in clean, safe—

Interjections.

Speaker, we are experiencing the negative consequences of Bill 124, underpaying and disrespecting front-line health care workers in our health care system. So why would the government repeat the same mistakes in our education system?

I want to say to the parents of this province: If you want your students to be in safe, stable classrooms, with good learning environments, then the government needs to negotiate fair wages with the lowest-paid workers.

My question to the minister is: Why is the government refusing to negotiate in a reasonable, fair way with low-paid education workers asking for a few extra dollars an hour to be able to pay the bills?

Yet again another question without any concern for kids.

The strike is on Friday, which is really regrettable and, frankly, unacceptable to parents—and to children—across the province, who want to see stability for their children.

We believe kids should be in school. We offered the union an off-ramp to avert a strike—by meeting on Sunday, to withdraw the strike notice that will impact two million kids this Friday—but they rejected that. They continue on their path to strike. That is really unfair to so many kids who have been through so much. So we brought forth legislation that is before the House. We encourage the member opposite to vote for it on the basis that children in London and in every region of this province deserve to be in class.

But the most important principle of our strategy is keeping kids in classrooms.