Thank you very much. It's an important question.
I believe we're being overly optimistic to think that we will be on the other side of the third wave in nine weeks and won't require benefits. I think the federal government needs to take a closer look at that.
We know substitute teachers in Canada have suffered greatly throughout this pandemic. Of course, their jobs depend on being able to teach, and that isn't happening because we aren't in schools. We need students in schools in order for our economy to recover. I think government needs to look more carefully at ways to keep our schools open safely and to ensure that our students are in school, learning in front of a teacher.
We all know that light has been shone on glaring inequities in our education system in terms of students and their access to connectivity and devices. Our best bet is to have our students and our teachers in schools. This means government is going to have to step up with more stringent health and safety protocols in our school buildings and with money to make sure that our schools stay open safely. I think government needs to look a little more carefully at their idea that we will be well on the other side of this in nine weeks.