Mr. Speaker, I would like to welcome Sharline Wang and Lei Zhang, the parents of our brilliant young page Sophie Zhang of Thornhill.

We can do even better, Speaker. We can increase it by $689 million for this September, for publicly funded schools, to ensure kids get back on track with a learning recovery plan that actually gets them on track.

But in addition to increasing investments in publicly funded schools—yes, we do believe, as Conservatives, that we need to help parents through this economic difficulty. That should be the default position of every single one of us. For whatever reason, the NDP and the Liberals have continued to oppose $1.6 billion in direct financial relief. We did it with a $200 payment. We doubled it to $400. And now we’re providing an additional $225 million to parents directly to help them with this economic challenge.

All of us agree that there’s economic instability, and we want to help families through it. In addition to supporting parents, we have a plan, Speaker, to help these kids catch up. It starts with them being in school this September. Normal and stable and more enjoyable: That is our vision. It is our priority, and we will do whatever it takes to ensure your kids stay in school right to June.

That is our commitment: to keep them in school, to help them learn and recover from this pandemic, and focus on the life and the job skills that are going to set them up for success when it comes to getting those jobs of the future. We have a vision for these kids to be ambitious and bold, and it starts with stability in schools, with a full learning experience—the life and the job skills that come with that as well, through clubs, sports, extracurriculars—the leadership we want in the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders.

We have a plan. We have invested over $175 million in tutoring expansion. When it comes to mental health, as the member opposite noted, we have increased investments from when the former Liberals were in power by 420%, underscoring our commitment to the health and safety of all children in this province.