I want to ask the member—she was a trustee; she has come from the education system—if special education, as she mentioned, is so important and it harms the most vulnerable students to not have these educators in our classrooms, why are you harming vulnerable students by forcing their support system out of the workforce? You’re forcing these education workers, who are paid so poorly that they’re driven out of the province or they’re driven to other jobs, to find enough to make a good living.

I actually got a message this morning from one worker who told me that she slept in her car between shifts at school and her other job because they cannot make enough and do the jobs that they need to do.

These are the people you’re hurting. These are the people you’re driving out of their jobs. And as a result, what happens? The vulnerable students are the ones who are getting harmed. How do you justify that?

We are in a health care crisis. Emergency rooms are closing. Hundreds of health care jobs are vacant. The fundamental problem with this bill is that it’s blaming the patient—the most vulnerable, the seniors—for a problem that’s not their fault. Instead of solving the issue, it’s blaming the patient, the seniors. Patients, experts and front-line workers have offered this government solutions. Instead of listening, this government has ignored them all.

Repeal Bill 124. Give them paid sick days. Hire more nurses. Hire more PSWs. You can do so many things. Get internationally trained professionals recognized. These are real solutions to address this problem, not Bill 7.

This government has put a cruel plan forward that threatens seniors with huge fees if they refuse to move hundreds of kilometres from friends and families. My question is, why is this government being so cruel to the most vulnerable people of our province?