It is my privilege to share that on May 10, I joined the Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, to announce an investment of $33.4 million for a new school in Etobicoke–Lakeshore. This new public school investment will create another 823 student spaces and 88 licensed child care spaces for families in south Etobicoke.

I’m happy to note that the new Etobicoke City Centre Elementary School is the fifth major school investment for Etobicoke–Lakeshore during my tenure as MPP. That’s over $135 million invested in schools and linked child care spaces in our community. I’m proud to advocate for and deliver these much-needed investments for our fast-growing community, to support working families and young learners. Two out of these five schools, St. Leo and Holy Angels, are expected to open in September 2024. The new Holy Angels school will accommodate 600 students and have 88 child care spaces. There will be room for 500 students at St. Leo, along with 49 child care spaces. The new and improved Bishop Allen Academy and St. Elizabeth school are anticipated to open in September 2027, with 1,300 and 600 pupil places, respectively.

I also want to share that for the upcoming 2024-25 school year, the Toronto Catholic District School Board will get nearly $1.2 billion in education funding, which is an increase of over $15.6 million from the current school year; the Toronto District School Board will get $3.3 billion, an increase of $68 million from the current school year.

Listening to the comments today, I’m reading some quotes from some of our presidents of universities like Laurier: “Laurier is committed to ensuring a safe, welcoming and inclusive ... environment for all students across our campuses. We support measures that will allow universities to build upon existing policies to ensure that students remain free from harassment both inside and outside of the classroom.”

And then I hear the remarks today. Throughout the various debates we’ve had, we’ve had the members from the opposition—through you, Madam Speaker—talking about sexual assault as costly and calling for non-partisan solutions to get where we need to go. Well, Speaker, Bill 26 proposes non-partisan solutions that will make a huge impact for students across the province. So, my question is: Will the opposition support Bill 26?

I thank you very much for the debate today.

I want to also thank the minister for bringing this really important bill forward.

To anybody, all across the board—it doesn’t matter what political stripe you are—sexual harassment, sexual violence has no place in our society.

As leaders in our community and as parents, we must talk to our children, making sure that they know that no is no and that consent is important; we all have a responsibility, as legislators.

We also have a responsibility, as parents or aunts or uncles or grandparents, to make sure our young people grow up to be good citizens in society.

Thank you for bringing this bill forward, Minister.

And thank you for the debate today.

We know that Bill 26 has a strong focus on faculty and students. Can you talk a little bit about how it’s not just good for students but it’s good for the faculty and staff as well?

Investing in post-secondary students is critical to building a highly skilled workforce here in Ontario. For our economy to grow and become an economic leader once again, we must support our students in obtaining the relevant experience they need to get good jobs after graduation. When I talk to the good people in Etobicoke–Lakeshore, all those employers said, “We need people.” With the tens of thousands of well-paying highly skilled jobs going unfilled in our province, we must act now to connect students and businesses to these new skills and opportunities for advancement.

Could the Minister of Colleges and Universities update this House on how our government supports students in practical work-integrated learning?

While I’m encouraged to hear that our government is supporting our next generation of workers in this new economy, we need to be confident that all Ontario students will be able to participate. Many students require more selection in learning opportunities to accommodate their unique circumstances and needs.

Speaker, can the minister elaborate on what our government is doing to support these innovative partnerships and increase flexibility for student learning opportunities across Ontario’s post-secondary landscape?