Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative party won a resounding majority in Thursday’s election. They promised to restore ‘respect for the taxpayer’. Too bad for the 2-million children in this province who attend publicly funded schools that no respect was promised to them.
In fact, no mention was made in the PC education platform at all about the state of Ontario’s schools and the $15.9-billion of disrepair in these buildings. And yet, 58 of the newly elected MPPs did make a personal commitment to ensuring that a standard of good repair is developed for Ontario’s schools, that funding will be provided to ensure that these new standards can be met and that the $15.9-billion of disrepair that currently plagues Ontario’s schools will be eliminated. Interested in seeing if your MPP-elect made this personal commitment by signing the Fix Our Schools Pledge? CLICK HERE
Notably, 30% of elected PC MPPs signed the Fix Our Schools Pledge, 80% of elected NDP MPPs and 43% of elected Liberal MPPs. Overall, 47% of the MPPs who will be working for Ontarians at Queen’s Park in the coming four years did commit to ensuring Ontario’s schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. So here’s hoping that despite a focus on taxpayers during the election, that when the real work begins – the new PC government will also respect Ontario’s children and Fix Ontario’s Schools.