It is a pleasure to be here to support this bill, Bill 145.

The minister was remiss. We are here today because of the relentless efforts of one MPP in particular, someone who brought in Bill 135, not Bill 145, and that is Peter Shurman, the MPP from Thornhill. He saw early on the importance of bringing these children and putting them back into the classroom. We hear daily how important this is. I am a little angry with the Liberals, because they could have supported the private member's Bill 135 in December to put the kids back to school. Instead, here we are today needlessly wrangling over procedure rather than wondering what day this week those kids will be back in the classroom.

But this is not the only strike that is affecting the province of Ontario. My municipality, the city of Ottawa, has been engaged in a 48-day transit strike with OC Transpo, and while the jurisdiction in those labour issues doesn't relate to provincial matters, the human interest does. The humanitarian issues are affecting people on ODSP, Ontario Works, the working poor-those people who are trying to scrape two dimes together, who can't afford to put gas in their car because they have to put food on the table. Many people have lost their jobs. The economic impact is $280 million. Thousands of people have lost their jobs. I have been asking this government, if they really cared, to help the working poor, to help the folks on ODSP and to help the people who need Ontario Works. But they have not done a thing. They continue to dither and delay.

What I find striking in not only the issue with OC Transpo and how we need the Liberal government's help in Ottawa is the fact that the York University strike has continued to drag on, because that is the way they do business.