Thank you to the member from Flamborough–Glanbrook for this question. I’m proud to announce in this House for the first time since we last rose ahead of the holidays that our government has landed deals with the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario and the French teachers’ union, which represents over a million children having peace and stability in their lives for the next three years.

As our government goes back to the basics of ensuring foundational learning, we can now provide a sense of certainty to families that their children will be in school learning with their educators, with their friends and with the stimulus of extracurriculars, clubs and sports. All of this is important to producing a well-rounded student who graduates with a competitive advantage as we help them ensure they’ve got the skills to get a good-paying job.

We are committed to stability for families, and we will stand up for children and their families to keep them in school right to June.

Our plan to get back to basics and back on track is working. Ontario is the second in the nation in reading, writing and math; we are in the top 10 in science internationally and top 15 in math globally.

To build on this, we recognize we have to start early, which is why the parliamentary assistants to the Ministers of Education and Health joined me to announce that we are introducing a new kindergarten curriculum that will require mandatory, explicit daily instruction in literacy and in math, supported by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

We are committed to ensuring kids learn life and job skills that allow them to get a good-paying job, own a home and achieve the dream of this country. We’re going to continue to invest and support back to basics in Ontario schools.