An unseasonable heatwave has raised the temperature of debate in the legislature.
With the humidex hitting the high 30s across southern Ontario, Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown launched question period on Tuesday by calling on the premier to commit to a maximum temperature in schools.
Many are without air conditioning as thousands of students and teachers sweat it out in the opening weeks of class.
"Students are saying it’s so hot in classrooms, they’re having trouble breathing. This is unacceptable in Ontario," Brown said. "Will the premier commit here today that we’ll have a mandate for maximum temperatures for Ontario schools in the event of extreme heat?"
Premier Kathleen Wynne gave the request a chilly response. "I know that when a classroom is hot, it is uncomfortable for teachers and for students," she said.
The bulk of Ontario schools were built before periods of peak heat — sometimes in  spring and early fall — became more common, Wynne said. "That’s why there’s been more money — $1.4 billion, actually — put into school boards so that they could make retrofits and they could provide supports to schools that were built in another day," she told the house.
Brown claimed about 125 schools out of 584 in the Toronto District School Board — roughly one in five — have air conditioning throughout the whole building.
"This hits home for me. My mother and my aunt have been lifelong educators in the city of Toronto," he said. "Are kids going to continue to have to learn at temperatures that are unbearable?"
Wynne  said teachers and principals have the "flexibility to make decisions" in the face of intense heat. "If there’s a situation that is dangerous for kids, they’re going to move those kids into the gym, they’re going to put fans in place," she said. "I have great faith in our educators."
She added: "I know that one of the schools where the leader of the opposition’s mother was the principal was in my riding [St. Bonaventure Elementary School in Don Valley West]. It is a school that has had a huge new addition that has been built onto it in the time that we’ve been in government."
Sam Hammond, president of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), said thousands of students and teachers have endured "unbearable conditions" over the past week. "That takes an unacceptable toll on teaching and learning.
"Our changing climate is sending a strong message that the Ministry of Education needs to take action," Hammond added.
In August, the ETFO called on the government to take action with a heat stress plan, maximum indoor temperature limits and air conditioning or heat reduction systems installed in elementary schools.
Toronto District School Board spokesperson Ryan Bird told Global News that "it's just not possible financially" to retrofit hundreds of schools with AC, which would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, he said.

Heatwave sparks red-hot debate over air conditioning in schools

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