January 9th, 2021

Lecce fails again to invest in safer schools and child care centres

TORONTO — NDP Education critic Marit Stiles (Davenport) and NDP Child Care critic Doly Begum (Scarborough Southwest) released the following statement in response to Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s Saturday morning press conference:

“It’s desperately frustrating for parents that Stephen Lecce got in front of the cameras, and didn’t announce a single measure to make schools safe to re-open. This government doesn’t want to invest in schools, and that’s putting our kids health and their education at risk.

The Ontario NDP continues to fight for a much bigger, broader in-school asymptomatic testing program, a class cap of 15, urgent ventilation improvements, and paid sick and family-care leave for all parents so they can afford to stay home with their kid if they’re worried about a cough or potential exposure to the virus, rather than sending them to school or day care.

Along with all frontline workers, the early childhood educators who are caring for the children of essential workers deserve pandemic pay.”