I want to build upon the minister’s gratitude to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery. Minister McCarthy has been a strong leader in this space, ensuring that we protect our children.

The introduction of legislation followed on the government’s landmark introduction of a comprehensive policy to remove distractions by eliminating vaping and cannabis within our school facilities, by restricting cellphone use during instructional time and by outright denying access to social media on school websites and devices, a common-sense provision supported overwhelmingly by leaders both in education and in law enforcement and by the parenting community of the province, who want government to strengthen the regime that protects kids online and in class from the harms—the constant, rising harms online—that can manifest in bullying, in trafficking and in self-harm.

I think we recognize inherently as the adults in the room the necessity to build those safeguards, and that’s why I am grateful to the Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery for bringing forth a program that helps to prevent—at its core, a legislative document that is designed to prevent and avert the types of tragedies we hear about too often in our society.

Madam Speaker, it is recognized that with the advent of AI, with 40% of jobs potentially being disrupted through the changes and disruptions of this technology, we need to really understand and recognize that the train has left the station in this space.

And so how do we protect kids, particularly when it comes to their privacy and data rights, which is a fundamental, sombre responsibility of government?

What I value is that most governments globally are seized with how to keep up with the rate of change in this space, and here we are in Ontario’s Legislature with legislation brought forth, demonstrating a sense of proactivity and a willingness to move at the speed of change in the market and the economy.

I’m grateful for this, because I was just in the United Kingdom representing Canada at the Canadian ministers of education council in my capacity as Chair. They held their global education forum. The number one issue seized with Ministers of Education in all regions of the world across the Commonwealth and beyond is the question of AI, the issue of academic integrity, of privacy and of online harm and how to create some conditionality around that technology to protect children.

That’s why the legislation, as it is proposed, gives the cabinet regulatory-making power to create those limitations and safeguards as a responsible government would do. It aligns with the vision of the minister and I and others in this House, including the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, about bringing forth the social media executives in the country with OPP, law enforcement, parents and school boards to look at how we can strengthen and protect kids online, particularly when it comes to issues of the algorithm and the impact it’s having on children and how it is very much a challenge for many young people in Ontario who are being targeted.

We also see issues related to privacy. The inappropriate distribution of images without consent, so many examples of tragedy on this space. So we need social media companies to work with us, and the government’s inclination is to collaborate instead of to litigate with the largest businesses and corporations, working with law enforcement and academia, to build a program that works for Canadian young people and for Ontario students. That’s why we have committed ourselves to doing that. In addition to strengthening knowledge in the curriculum on concepts of digital literacy and online citizenship, how do we create a more resilient young people where they’re able to understand fundamentally issues of misinformation, disinformation, issues related to the inaccurate presentation of concepts and really how do we strengthen the critical thinking skills that need to be front and centre of our young people’s knowledge in the classroom today?

So we understand these threats. We also recognize the strengths in having digital fluency as a graduation requirement. It’s why we have introduced in the curriculum mandatory learning years ago, and then we announced together we would strengthen that learning to help young people better understand AI and understand how to be cautionary users of AI. But with the recognition that we welcome the innovation that’s taking place online. We just simply seek to keep up with it.

When I have spoken to job creators, when we have spoken to parents and when we have spoken to young people, we understand that AI can be an incredibly powerful tool for learning. We can reimagine education through its use, but it will never supplement the necessity of human judgment and intelligence. You cannot replace that, the value of an in-person teacher, but AI can be complementary to it. So we have undertaken a commitment to bring forth safeguards to really clamp down on distractions to protect young people’s ability to learn and stay focused in classrooms.

I know that educators welcome this, school boards have endorsed this legislation, and most particularly leaders in cyber security have acknowledged the leadership of Ontario in the nation for stepping forward. This wouldn’t have been possible unless our government and the Premier was committed to the protection of children. For that, I just express gratitude. It is the sombre responsibility of governments to protect the most vulnerable, and I am grateful, in partnership with the minister, that we built a program, a legislative document, that sets out a road map that enhances the safety of children and protects our kids learning, playing and interacting online. That is what a responsible government would do.