Thank you to the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London.

We had the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations here today, and their very strong message was that universities and colleges are collapsing because they’ve been underfunded for so many years. The underfunding predates this government, but it has continued. And even the new funding is—by the time you divide it by three years and then divide it by 25 universities, 35 colleges, it doesn’t amount to much. So even though we’ve got these great plans for new teaching opportunities for vets, my concern is—I wonder if you can help balance the books so that students can actually afford to get that training.

I want to thank the member from London West for a very thorough presentation.

The post-secondary sector has been chronically unfunded—wages for contract lecturers are minimum wage; people still paying off their PhDs; no time to share with students; doubling of class sizes; international students with the pressure of their families’ life savings riding on their backs; successive policies that have basically put the post-secondary sector on fire, and a bill offering up what I’d say is the equivalent of a hand-held fire extinguisher.

Do you see these conditions as being root causes of the mental health crises pervading the post-secondary sector?

Thank you to the member from London West for her insightful comments.

I’d like to move back to wildland firefighters. According to Minister Smith and Minister Fedeli, Ontario is experiencing challenges with the ability of skilled and experienced candidates—to get people to fill those positions. But according to Noah Freedman, a forest fire leader from Sioux Lookout, “We don’t have issues bringing new fire staff into the program—we can’t retain people. When the season is over, and our backs and lungs are destroyed, staff look at their bank account and ask, ‘Why did I do this?’” We know that they are still not covered for presumptive cancers. And, frankly, what do we do when the government itself is the bad actor?

I see a lost opportunity. I also see a betrayal in what is not covered in this bill. I wonder if you could speak to that.