Ontario’s NDP Official Opposition Leader Says Ford Government is Gambling With Our Kid’s School Year

“I hoped we’d hear more of a plan (this August 4rth), not more excuses. Our kids, teachers and education workers deserve better. They deserve a robust gap-free strategy that lowers the risk as much as we possibly can.”                                                                                 – Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath

A News Release from Ontario’s NDP Opposition Party

Posted August 4^th, 2021 on Niagara At Large

A Brief Foreword from Niagara At Large reporter and publisher Doug Draper –

Wow.

Niagara West MPP and Ford government education ministry assistant Sam Oosterhoff. He was home schooled. And would he wear a mask in a public school if he wouldn’t wear one during a mask bylaw mandate in a Niagara Falls, Ontario restaurant? This is who we’ve got planning for our children, folks.

Did we just hear that Ontario’s Ford government is finally throwing out a bit of money to improve ventilation systems in schools across the province, just about four or five weeks before children are supposed to return to school as a Delta variant that hits younger people is raging on.

But never mind that. Let’s stuff our kids back in those schools. I am sure that Ontario’s assistant to the Education Minister – Niagara West MPP Sam Oosterhoff – would have no problem with that.

After all, Oosterhoff was home schooled and so, I suspect, are many of his constituents out there in Niagara’s right-wing Christian Bible belt.

To hell with the rest of us .

•  Doug Draper, Niagara At Large

Now here is the Ontario NDP Leader’s News Release –

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Education Minister Stephen Lecce’s Wednesday (August 4rth) press conference provided no comfort to parents, teachers or education workers worried that the Ford government is taking big risks with safety to avoid investing in safer schools.

“Ford’s rolling the dice, and kids are going to pay the price,” said Horwath. “The Ford government didn’t want to invest any more in schools, so they’ve released a paper-thin plan that doesn’t improve vaccination rates, doesn’t give parents and education workers paid sick days, doesn’t rapid test unvaccinated staff before they come to school, and doesn’t give kids smaller class sizes.

Ontario NDP Official Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath

“I hoped we’d hear more of a plan (this August 4rth), not more excuses. Our kids, teachers and education workers deserve better. They deserve a robust gap-free strategy that lowers the risk as much as we possibly can. Because preventing outbreaks not only protects people’s heath — it will prevent kids from being sent home again and again. Their mental and emotional health can’t take any more of that.”

Horwath has released a Safe September plan that calls for all those things. She also believes the COVID-19 vaccine should be added to the existing vaccines list for students. For vaccines like the measles and chicken pox shots, parents already must show their child’s immunization record, or a signed exemption, in order to register for school.

To Read the Ford Government’s News Release on Ventillating Schools for our Chidren and the Teachers and Staff working in them, click on – https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1000652/ontario-further-improving-school-ventilation

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