Bill 33, the Supporting Children and Students Act makes a big change to how the province places school boards under provincial supervision, the process of taking direct control of a school board's operations and finances.
Years of underfunding and cuts to local schools has left Ontario with overcrowded classrooms, fewer mental health supports, and teachers and staff who are stretched thin. Instead of reversing those cuts, the Bill overrides the will of communities and parents by giving police forces the power to place officers in our local schools – despite evidence that it does not make schools safer, and could unfairly criminalize marginalized students.
Bill 33 also has a major impact on our post-secondary institutions, forcing crucial funding cuts for student services like food banks, sexual assault centres, academic centres, campus radio stations and newspapers, LGBTQIA spaces, cultural associations, and campus clubs.
I am strongly opposed to these changes.