November 4, 2014

Mr. Grant Crack
Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education
900 Bay Street, 22nd Floor
Mowat Block
Toronto ON  M7A 1L2

Dear Grant,

It is an honour and a pleasure to have you as my Parliamentary Assistant. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Ministry of Education and to outline some of the important work that lies ahead of us.

As you know, our government has a plan to invest in the talent and skills of our people, build modern infrastructure, support a dynamic and innovative business climate, and provide better retirement security to people across the province. At the heart of this plan are partnerships with businesses, people and communities, which will help our government grow the economy, create jobs and implement solutions that have a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

This balanced and comprehensive plan is underpinned by a focus on fiscal prudence. The mandate letter I received last month from Premier Wynne reinforced our government’s commitment to balance the budget by 2017-18 and to pursue increased openness, accountability and modernization.

Parliamentary Assistants play a key role in delivering these priorities and have a responsibility to put our government’s plan into action.

Our ministry recently released Achieving Excellence: A Renewed Vision for Education in Ontario, which defined our renewed goals for the education sector. The activities you will lead as PA will be critical to turn the aspirational objectives outlined in Achieving Excellence into a reality.

As Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education, your specific responsibilities include:

  • Overseeing the implementation of legislative and regulatory changes through the Child Care Modernization Act, 2014;
  • Working with the ministers of Training, Colleges and Universities, and of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade to ensure the adult education system better supports adult learners in their efforts to finish high school, and successfully transitioning to postsecondary education, training or the work place; and
  • Working with schools, school boards, guidance counsellors, and business and labour in communities to increase experiential learning opportunities and identifying people who can mentor students throughout school toward apprenticeship and successful careers.

I am confident that together, working in collaboration with our partners in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, we can deliver on our commitment to the people we are privileged to represent and serve. I look forward to working with you to deliver our ministry’s mandate, build Ontario up — and help achieve a brighter future for every person in this province.

Sincerely,

Original signed by

The Honourable Liz Sandals
Minister of Education