Comme c’est la première fois que je me lève en Chambre, je tiens à vous féliciter et à remercier les gens de Don Valley-Ouest de m’avoir élue députée. Je m’engage fermement à les représenter fidèlement et à servir les Ontariens au mieux de mes capacités.

I am speaking today to express the concerns of Don Valley West parents, local businesses and not-for-profits with regard to the implementation of the Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care program, also known as CWELCC or $10-a-day child care.

The Conservative government set a deadline of September 1—only 21 days from now—by when child care operators must sign on to this program to reduce child care fees for parents. As of mid-July, over half of Toronto operators have not yet signed on because they do not yet have the information they need to make an informed decision, like if and when they will be reimbursed for rebates they pay to parents.

The Conservative government’s signing of the federal child care agreement was a good first step, but the lateness of doing so has left municipalities, parents and child care operators scrambling. I respectfully ask the Minister of Education to help them get answers.

It would be a shame if families were not able to tap into this great support, especially as the throne speech talked about easing the financial burden for families in Ontario.

I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Malton for this question. I think it is timely, with the challenge of national inflation rising and the cost of living impacting every single one of our constituents.

We have an opportunity in this House to provide additional financially—even if it is incremental—to make life a bit more affordable for the moms and dads of this province, who have borne so much of this pandemic.

It’s interesting; the member from Davenport, as she criticizes me on the other side, said yesterday, “It’s very disappointing.” What is disappointing, Speaker, is that when as legislators we have a duty, an opportunity, to provide relief, that we all stand up and we provide it to the parents of this province—every one of us should be united by that mission. It’s sad that when we did this in August 2020, with $200 to every child; and when we did it in February 2021, with another $200 to every child; and when we doubled it to $400 in May 2021, in each and every example, New Democrats and Liberals opposed it.

This Premier will continue to make life more affordable. And the message to parents is quite simple: Relief is on the way.

Our mission is simple: It is a normal, a stable and, yes, a more enjoyable school year for these kids. They deserve it, and I know we all believe that. In order to put that vision into practice, it’s about having a plan to help these kids catch up. The most consequential policy we can achieve as legislators for these kids is to keep them in school and stand up for stability—be it from the pandemic or from the labour negotiations.

These kids deserve to be in school. In every region of the province I’ve heard this same message from parents, “Get my kids in school and keep them there,” and our commitment is to do just that.