Let’s take a step back, Speaker. We inherited a child care program that costs, on average, $50 to $60 a day. It was our government, under our Premier’s leadership, that cut that by 50%, saving $6,000 to $12,000 per child per year. We then committed to build spaces: 86,000 spaces for which the government is on track, 41,000 spaces created since 2018.

The member opposite speaks about supporting our staff. It was this government that just increased wages this year by 19% in the first year, achieving wage parity with the ECEs in kindergarten, because that was a fundamental priority: to reduce the exodus of staff going from child care into our school system. We now have wage parity. We’re increasing wages by $1 per hour per year, every year; this is going to make a difference as we retain more workers.

As we build more spaces, we continue to reduce fees for the people of Ontario.