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Almost as soon as Ontario Premier Doug Ford hinted he might eliminate the popular full-day kindergarten program, MPP Peggy Sattler said her phone started ringing.

Her email box filled up. There were comments on social media.

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“I’m furious and parents are furious,” the London West MPP said.

Without warning, Ford said during a news conference Wednesday he wouldn’t guarantee full-day kindergarten will continue beyond the next school year.

“I can tell you that there’s going to be all-day kindergarten next year and we’ll sit down and you’ll hear from us in the future,” he said.

“I can assure you one thing, any decision that’s made is going to be better, it’s not going to be worse. As far as I’m concerned, there’s a lot of areas of education that are broken that need to be fixed.”

Ford’s comments were another curveball thrown at the province’s public education system. They came on the heels of announcements the Progressive Conservative government is thinking about removing the caps on class size in the primary grades.

This is while the government has been in consultation with school boards about possible cost-saving efficiencies. Ford said he just wants what is best for pupils, but a government document frames the current consultation as one that is required, given “the province’s current fiscal circumstances.”

The Progressive Conservative government is trying to trim a provincial deficit they peg at $14.5 billion — though the financial accountability officer says it’s closer to $12 billion.