Ontario’s students have gone through two years of disrupted education. Despite support from the medical community in June, our schools did not re-open for fear that economic recovery may be delayed - a key issue for Ford supporters. This was a false dichotomy: schools are critical for our economy and schools could have opened in June. 

The result? Ontario’s schools have been closed longer than any other province or territory, despite having some of the strictest infection, prevention and control (IPAC) measures in the country (25+ weeks in Ontario compared to 9 weeks in BC and 10 weeks in Quebec). 

BC and Quebec released in June concrete plans to return students to full-time, in-person instruction without cohorts or masks. Saskatchewan and Alberta have announced that all pandemic restrictions will be lifted in July.  Despite indications that Ontarians who would like to be vaccinated will have the opportunity before September, Ontario has not yet released its plan for the 2021/22 school year and there is uncertainty around whether school closures will continue.

Ontario can do better than this. Help us ensure Ontario’s students do not experience a third year of disrupted education. We have put together a toolkit with social media messages, lawn signs, and letter templates that you can use to get that word out to politicians, bureaucrats, the public, and the media that “kids belong in class!” Our social media tools and lawn signs are available in French.

If you live in one of the following ridings who would like to be more involved in this initiative, please contact us at KidsBelongInClass@gmail.com. 

Ajax
Brantford-Brant
Brampton Centre
Brampton South
Brampton West
Cambridge
Etobicoke North
Kanata-Carleton
King-Vaughan
Kitchener South-Hespler
Ottawa West-Nepean