Thank you to the member opposite for the important question—a very important question. As we all know, especially coming out of the pandemic, mental health is more of a need and a priority as well. Under the Minister of Education, as I mentioned earlier in the debate, we’ve increased to historic levels of mental health funding. It also is a government-wide approach. I know that the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and the Minister of Health herself are looking at mental health, those aspects, within our school system. I know in some areas of the province the family health teams will go into the schools with a mental health practitioner they may have on their team to ensure that there is that oversight and that support within our larger health care system and within the community.

Speaker, our government is focused on getting schools built and updated. Some $15 billion over 10 years, as I mentioned earlier in the debate, for school capital development. One of the first things going into my role as PA to education after the last election was learning how much—I didn’t realize, as a layman—education oversees the real estate portfolio it oversees.

And it’s getting more schools built, which is a change from the previous Liberal government, and ensuring that those schools are built quickly as well and ensuring that those resources are used to the maximum efficiency.

Speaker, I find it very rich from the members opposite, talking about big government when that party supports, essentially, communism.

It’s a pleasure for me to rise in this chamber to provide my full support for Bill 98, Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act.

Speaker, there’s nothing more important than preparing our young people for lifelong success, and if we want to get the education system working the way that it should, we need to pass this legislation. It is really that simple. In my riding of Perth–Wellington, parents have made it clear that while they believe in the promise of public education, they also want an education system to do a much better job of getting their kids ready for the workforce. That means more reading, more math, more science and an introduction to the skilled trades.

Before I get to the merits of the bill, I want to take this opportunity to thank the Minister of Education and the parliamentary assistant for everything they have done. I had the pleasure of working alongside both the minister and PA Barnes for several months after the last election before I was moved to municipal affairs and housing. I can tell this chamber that the minister is incredibly passionate about reforming the education system and has accomplished a great deal so far. And as both a mom and a former trustee for the Durham District School Board, the parliamentary assistant and the member for Ajax, Patrice Barnes, is incredibly knowledgeable about both the internal workings of our school boards and the state of the education system at the grassroots level. Both are driving transformational change in our education system, and I applaud them on their progress so far and everything they have accomplished. The province’s students are in good hands.

This province’s education system needs some transformational change, because the stakes could not be higher in these times. Ontario is facing the largest shortage of skilled labour in a generation. Right now, there are more than 100,000 unfilled skilled trades jobs across the province. It’s projected that by 2026, approximately one in five job openings in Ontario will be in skilled-trades-related fields. It is estimated that more than 40% of jobs in Canada are at high risk of getting disrupted by technology. So it’s crucial that we prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow.

We’re taking decisive action, and we’re getting it done. Ever since our government was first elected five years ago, we have been busy updating the province’s curriculum to ensure it does a better job of reflecting the changing needs in our labour market. More specifically, that has meant making financial literacy and digital fluency key priorities; investing $200 million to support a four-year math strategy; teaching valuable transferable skills such as leadership, communication, collaboration and critical thinking; promoting the skilled trades as a top choice for a career path for young people; increasing awareness and access to apprenticeship programs; and, obviously, improving science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, learning across Ontario and our public school system.

In addition to the $200 million for the math strategy, we’re also investing more than $71 million in 2023-24 in a new math plan that doubles the number of school math coaches in the classroom and expands access to digital math tools that students and parents can access at any time.

I’m proud to add that the government of Ontario is once again building new schools, after a decade under the previous Liberal government when we saw the closure of 600 schools across Ontario, many in rural communities. More specifically, our government is investing approximately $15 billion over 10 years to build new schools, improve existing educational facilities and create new child care spaces for hard-working families.

These are pretty significant investments, which is why I’m confident that our government is on the right track. But there’s only so much we can do and accomplish without drafting new legislation. If passed, the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act will increase accountability by giving parents new tools to navigate and understand the education system and establish basic qualifications for directors of education.

Bill 98 will allow the minister to establish key priorities to ensure students have the skills and knowledge they need, especially in areas such as reading, writing and math. As a matter of fact, the Ontario Human Rights Commission recently provided written submissions on Bill 98. I just want to have a brief quote: “The OHRC is pleased in see that Bill 98 lays the groundwork for an education system unified with a focus on improving student outcomes in the important lifelong skill of reading.”

Just as an aside, Speaker, I have to wonder how my honourable colleagues in the New Democratic, Liberal and Green parties feel about opposing a bill that enjoys the full support of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

In any case, my colleagues and I are incredibly excited about the actions our government is taking to improve our education system and outcomes for young people, but I think we need to talk a little bit about resources.

Speaker, our government has increased the Ministry of Education’s investments every year since we took office. In fact, we have announced more than $27.6 billion in total education funding to school boards for this fiscal year, 2023-24—the highest investment in public education in the province’s history. We’re doing our part, and we’re providing school boards with valuable resources, but some school boards are claiming they can’t make do, even with record investments in education. Something doesn’t add up.

What many Ontarians don’t realize is that the education sector is sitting on the largest vertical real estate portfolio within the broader public sector, with over 4,600 open or operating schools. But there’s a lack of standardization on how school boards should manage this considerable number of assets.

Additionally, we have seen across the province that boards will not rent or sell unused schools to competing boards, or when there are underused schools in some areas of the board’s jurisdiction while other areas require new schools.

The Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act will maximize the capital assets held by school boards by:

—strengthening the province’s oversight over the use, sale and development of school board real estate, including surplus properties;

—setting authority to direct the joint use of schools;

—streamlining approvals in high-growth areas;

—requiring school boards to work with municipalities on urban planning—and as the now-parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, I know we’re also working with the Ministry of Education to ensure that we are planning growth in the right areas and ensuring that schools are built in high-growth areas, and innovative solutions, whether that is a school in a new condo building or a school in a new community;

—setting authority to direct school boards to utilize standardized designs.

Speaker, I believe that parents and the public will support a more effective use of public resources, especially if our reforms make it easier to get schools built—and faster—when their children are ready to attend them. We must get more classrooms into the communities that need them ASAP.

Overall, the big picture is this: Ontario school boards receive over $27 billion in provincial funding and operate over 4,800 school facilities and a complex system of student transportation. Parents, families and taxpayers demand and deserve greater transparency and accountability into how their education system is managed and how the system’s resources are managed.

Our reforms are very much in line with the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Learning that was chaired by former Liberal cabinet minister Monique Begin and long-time New Democrat Gerald Caplan in the mid-1990s. To quote the 1994 report: “We recommend the transfer of several key responsibilities away from boards. We believe that determining the level of each board’s expenditures, for example, should be the ministry’s job.” The fact that this report was tabled when I was four years old and we still have not moved on it—I’m glad to see that our government is finally taking action and moving forward with some of the recommendations outlined in it.

I can also cite the 2012 Drummond report that my colleague also mentioned in her remarks, commissioned by former Premier Dalton McGuinty. In the words of the Drummond report, “Efficiency can also be found by maximizing the value of school board capital assets. Where schools have been closed or consolidated because of declining enrolment, school boards have surplus properties. The minister should have the power to order the sale of unused properties, especially when such dispositions could meet other needs in the BPS.”

Speaker, to summarize, we’re getting the job done. We’re providing schools and school boards with the resources they need to educate our children. We are once again building and improving schools after a decade of school closures under the previous Liberal government. We are taking action to ensure that our precious tax dollars are supporting our youth.

Thank you to my colleague for his comments on the Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act. He was referring to having the proper books and the proper curriculum for our students, and I couldn’t agree more, Speaker. I know our government is really taking a serious look at that in updating the curriculum. Under the previous Liberal government, unfortunately, they chose not to do that, and so when our government formed our first government in 2018, I know our Minister of Education made that a top priority.

And so we are now legislating this review of curriculum, implementing a mandatory curriculum review process: no fewer than three years, no matter who the government is, no matter who the minister is. Does the member opposite support that, and will they support this bill?

My question is to the Minister of Education. I also want to personally thank him for his advice and friendship in our time working together.

Ontario’s population is growing rapidly. Our government is ensuring that we’re building houses, but we also must ensure that we’re providing the next generation of Ontario students with the skills they need to succeed. For over a decade and a half, the previous Liberal government neglected to prepare our students for the jobs of tomorrow that are absolutely required to build and sustain Ontario. In the construction sector alone, we know we will need 70,000 workers by 2027 to meet our province’s growing infrastructure needs. New knowledge and skills must be taught to our students so that they will be successfully prepared to fill the jobs that are so desperately needed.

Can the minister please explain how our government is equipping our students for lifelong careers that will build Ontario for generations to come?

Speaker, can the minister please explain what actions our government is taking to ensure that our students are exposed to the opportunities that are available in the skilled trades and other technology fields?

Thank you to my colleague, obviously, for that great question. The reason we’re here this morning so early is to ensure our students are in class for the entire period from September to June, ensuring that they have the ability to interact with their friends in person, ensuring that they’re able to learn in class and do projects together in class and to experience everything we all remember from our time in elementary school and high school and beyond. So this is why we are here today: to ensure that our students remain in class moving forward.

We have been committed since the election—the Premier, the Minister of Education have been clear: We cannot tolerate any disruptions to in-person learning, so we will be in this House to ensure that students can remain in the classroom from September to June, Speaker.

I’m getting to the best part, member from Brampton North.

These investments include an additional $683 million in this budget we just passed for this year’s funding to school boards, for a total of $26.6 billion. I want to compare this to the NDP-backed Liberal government just a few short years ago, Speaker. Our Progressive Conservative government and this Premier are investing more than $2.7 billion this year compared to the final year of the last previous Liberal government. This clearly demonstrates our commitment to improving student success, in contrast to the failed policies and practices of the previous NDP-backed Liberal government. These investments will go directly into our children’s classrooms to ensure they receive the top-quality education they deserve and the high standard of learning parents rightly demand.

What our students learn in the classroom is directly correlated to their future success. As such, we must continue to update Ontario’s various curricula, guaranteeing the instruction of necessary life and job skills to support a family and one day realize the dream of home ownership, and everything else included in the Canadian dream.

The previous Liberal government failed at nearly every turn to ensure our children’s studies kept up with the changing times. Neglected by the previous Liberal government, Ontario schools failed to address a rapidly changing world. I’ll provide an example, Speaker: Ontario’s elementary science and technology curriculum, which this government, under Minister Lecce, swiftly modernized, was last updated in 2007, the year Facebook and Twitter came online. This is unacceptable, and our government has made it a priority to constantly look for new ways to update and modernize curricula in ways that best work for students.

Another example includes Ontario’s grade 9 math curriculum, which the Liberals neglected to update since 2008, the same year the iPhone 3G was introduced. This neglect was shameful, and that’s partly why, in 2018 and again in 2022, the people of Ontario sent the Ontario Liberal Party to be independent members on the opposite benches in record-low numbers, and elected this party and this Premier, not once but twice, with a greater majority. Speaker, in doing so, the people of Ontario have given our government a renewed mandate to ensure student success is well-funded and looked after, and, most importantly, that students remain in class.

Ontario’s students deserve to learn in an environment that best equips them for the future. Our schools will finally include financial literacy, something the opposition previously neglected. For the first time, Ontario students will learn about mortgages, interest payments and the impacts of debt accumulation. These are foundational aspects of sound fiscal management which will help them succeed in life.

Students in Ontario and, indeed, across this nation and the western world have experienced declines in math. This cannot be understated, and we will not allow it to be so. We are investing $25 million in a new skills-focused curriculum that will ensure every board has a math specialist available with a special focus on early intervention. This government is also fighting the unions in court to ensure educators meet grade 9 math standards. Our students deserve no less than this common-sense requirement for education, and our government will keep taking every step necessary to ensure teachers are well-equipped to do their job.

For the past four years, this government placed a critical emphasis on science, engineering, technology and math, or STEM studies, in our classrooms. These subjects contain not only the keys to many successful futures for our students, but they represent areas of need in this province that will grow as time progresses. The success of Ontario’s future economy depends on the actions we take now. Under the leadership of Premier Ford, our government is ensuring that students will now explore how science relates to careers in the skilled trades and how emerging and new technologies impact these careers. These new learning expectations within the curriculum will ensure Ontario’s students are at the forefront of emerging innovation and thought, and able to compete in the global economy.

Our government has transformed the curriculum to now emphasize STEM education across all grades, embedding life and job skills that will support the next generation of scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs. For the first time in Ontario’s history, the revised curriculum includes required learning on real-world connections between science, technology, engineering and mathematics. And it includes food literacy. Coming from Perth–Wellington, it is great to see that that is included in the curriculum as well at such a young age, teaching our students the importance of our agricultural sector, food and healthy eating.

This government is also committed to building state-of-art schools which will play a major role in providing top-quality education spaces for Ontario students who need them now more than ever. Our classrooms are critical to the learning recovery for our students.

But, Speaker, we know that success inside the classroom can always use some help from outside the classroom. It is for this reason our government invested $176 million to expand free school-based—through school boards—tutoring supports, the largest publicly funded tutoring program ever in Canada for the students who need it the most. This investment will be used to improve the foundational reading and writing skills of our earliest learners, and to support them with better math literacy after a global decline during the two-year pandemic-related disruptions. This follows our government’s $15-million investment to deliver expanded summer learning opportunities.

Of course, Speaker, we know that schools provide much more than a space for education. Schools have always been important social settings for our kids to make friends and build life-lasting relationships. So it is clear, particularly for our young people, that pandemic-related disruptions have had a profound impact on the mental health of young people. Speaker, mental health is health. Our government and this Premier have made it a point to expand access to mental health supports well before the pandemic, but now more than ever, our children need our help.

This government is proud to have invested a historic $90 million in mental health supports for students, including an additional $10 million in new funding to expand access to much-needed mental health supports. For context, this investment represents a 420% increase on investment compared to the last mandate of the Wynne Liberal government. On this side of the chamber, we understand the critical importance that schools play in the lives of our students. That is why we must fight to make sure they stay in class, where they deserve to be.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to support our newly re-elected government’s continued determination to provide financial relief to hard-working Ontario families. It is real and tangible economic support at the most crucial of times that also respects the choice of parents. Through Support for Families, Support for Learners and the COVID-19 child benefit, our government, under our last mandate, made over $1.6 billion available in financial relief to Ontario families in the uncertain economic times of the pandemic. Mr. Speaker, it was shameful that the opposition voted against all three initiatives to support families and provide relief.

Recently, this government has added to already historic levels of direct support to parents, as I mentioned, by announcing the education catch-up payments, which I am pleased to say, as of this morning, 972,000 families have applied for. This is $365 million in financial relief put directly in the pockets of Ontario parents, which will help ensure our students recover from learning losses accrued during the pandemic and allow parents, who are best suited to make these decisions, to do so.

It is worth noting that every step of the way, as I mentioned, the NDP and the Liberals have opposed this financial relief because they believe in a one-size-fits-all approach drawn up by downtown Toronto bureaucrats far away from the families in need.

There is only one political party in this Legislature which consistently stands on the side of parents, and I’m proud to be a member of that party supporting parents and providing stability to students at every turn.

CUPE’s decision to walk out on students in this province by imposing a needless, but predictable, strike only proves their lack of support for the ones who need it the most: the students.

Speaker, I would like to take the time to set the record straight in this place: At no point, throughout the months of negotiation, has CUPE budged on their demand for a nearly 50% increase in compensation over four years—

Interjections.