I want to thank the member opposite for the opportunity to respond and provide a substantive update to this House on the progress we are making to support students.

I want us to start off with a differentiating perspective on the philosophy by which we measure success in this Parliament. For New Democrats and for Liberals, the measurement of success singularly depends on the dollars expended to the ministry. But for real people—as the member opposite encouraged me to dialogue with—the measurement of success is actually benchmarked against outcomes that those investments deliver. I want to speak about the achievements we are making in this province. Notwithstanding a significant increase of dollars and significant increase of funding, there’s also been non-monetary improvements that lead to better outcomes. The member opposite in her own judgment and experience as a former trustee will know that the single driving indicator of improvement on student achievement in the classroom is the quality of the teacher.

And thus is the thesis for today’s rebuttal to the opposition: that it requires courage to stand up for what’s right, even if it’s difficult.

Case study number 1 where the opposition has failed this test for families and parents who we represent: When the question was posed of who hires educators in the province, was it a recommendation of the NDP to stand up for merit and qualification and experience? Not at all. They were the chief champions and cheerleaders of Kathleen Wynne’s policy to revert to hiring in Ontario exclusively on union seniority, because the members opposite would never even contemplate a moment in their time where they’re on an opposite perspective with their teacher unions, federations. They are the chief advocates for them in this place, and when they had the opportunity to stand up for merit-based hiring—because Progressive Conservatives believe, if you can believe it, colleagues, the best teacher should get the job in this province, not the person who has been in their union for the longest.

Interjections.