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.

I really want to thank the member from Niagara Centre for your hour lead here. I learned so much. You have a lot of experience to bring to us.

I also want to thank the members on the other side, who—I watched—did stay and paid attention, because we can see that it’s an important bill. We have a lot to learn from one another and respect the experiences that we all bring to this House, so I want to thank you for that.

The dangers here in a bill that has potential to bring in authoritarian rule at a municipal level—these dangers are quite significant. I was wondering if you could just expand a little bit further on your disappointment and my disappointment that we have short-circuited this debate on such an important piece of legislation. We haven’t talked to all of the stakeholders and we haven’t given us, as legislators, adequate time to bring to this House the information that we need.