Session: 39:1
Date: 13-Dec-2007

FIRE PROTECTION STATUTE LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 2007

Ms. Laurie Scott: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and welcome back to the Speaker's chair once again in this session.

It's a pleasure this morning to speak to the bill before us, Bill 14, the Fire Protection Statute Law Amendment Act, 2007, just for those of you at home who are viewing today. I congratulate the member from Beaches-East York again for bringing this forward in the Legislature and his tenacity on this issue. And welcome to the firefighters in the gallery today and those who have been here through the week, coming to our offices, explaining their concerns and putting the public safety of Ontarians foremost before us and what we can do to make the laws better.

This is one example of what we can do. We were disappointed, in the two times that it's been introduced, that it has not been moved forward. I encourage the government to certainly take this forward maybe a little bit more expediently than they did before.

I want to concur with my colleagues the member from Oxford and the member from Thornhill about the different aspects of the bill they have brought forward. I want to focus, in the short time I have, on the particular part of the bill in which Mr. Prue, under section one, indicates interconnected fire alarms that are audible, and in clauses 1(2.0.1)(b) and 2(1.1)(b) he reiterates that point.

The concern I want to bring forward is about people such as seniors or people who are deaf or hard of hearing in our communities who need strobe lighting and different devices in order to be alerted. I know my colleague the member from Pickering-Scarborough East did a private member's bill in the last session on visual fire alarms so I know that other members of the Legislature are aware of this.

I've had the opportunity to speak in my riding to Maggie Doherty-Gilbert, who represents the Canadian Hearing Society and does a fantastic job on that part. She's been to my office many times. She makes the point that one of the main focuses of the local health integration networks is to work at providing seniors with the dignity and independence of staying in their homes, and this includes those living in retirement residences and supportive housing. Statistics show that as many as 40% of seniors in our community are either deaf or hard of hearing. So for most of those people, an audible fire alarm isn't sufficient to make them aware of the potential danger they may be faced with, so strobe alarms are what's needed in these cases. We have a variation of those strobe alarms in the Legislature, as we speak.

Surprisingly, strobe alarms and fire alarms are not covered under the assistive devices program, so there are financial hardships for these people in obtaining strobe alarms. The estimated cost is about $100 per alarm, but it's the connection of the hard wiring and the many rooms that they will need; obviously, they need them in different rooms in their homes. That is the point we want to make: to look at strobe alarms that may be covered by the assistive devices program.

I want to make the point that the Legion in Clarington has just raised $2,000 for a local situation in their riding. So I say, God bless the Legion for identifying that and for fundraising.

HEALTHY FOOD FOR HEALTHY SCHOOLS ACT, 2007
Ms. Laurie Scott: It's a new riding name change. They're all getting to know the new riding, from the old Victoria-Haliburton, then Haliburton-Victoria-Brock, and now it's Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock.

What we are debating here: The member from Toronto-Danforth made some very good points and the member from Halton did too. We all want to protect our children. The banning of trans fats has been going on for a long time. Is this fluff or is it something that's similar to the former Minister of Education who brought in all this banning, and yet we have pictures where they were still selling junk food in the schools? We have pictures of that.

The people of Ontario want to know-and the member from Halton said that. We're in the Legislature for just a short period of time. There are a lot of issues facing Ontarians, and we're dealing with a bill banning trans fats. That's important, but is this the first priority for the government? I don't think it should be. I think there needs to be education. The Minister of Education is bringing in the bill, but there are other education issues.

Mr. Ted Chudleigh: Careful. She's a little sensitive on this subject.

Ms. Laurie Scott: There is some sensitivity. It's Christmastime. We can all get along.
We should be educating our young people how to eat properly. Have we neglected that in the past? We have. I heard some of the members say, "We wish we had this when we were younger and that we had more education."

The member from Toronto-Danforth in his comments did bring up the chronic diseases that we have, not addressing those properly. That is a huge burden on our health care system. It's not protecting our people, the people of Ontario, and we're not training the young people.

This bill is important. It shouldn't be a major priority for the government.

Interjection.
Ms. Laurie Scott: Just hold on. Sorry, I'm not quite finished. I'm looking for a clock to see how much time there actually is.

Applause.
Ms. Laurie Scott: No, you're not getting away that easily, but thank you. I'm still looking for the answer to my "goo" question from earlier today in question period. Somehow we didn't get an answer to that but it is tied into education, because it was a math question, Mr. Speaker, as you're looking.

I wish everyone in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock-the new riding name-a very merry Christmas. I don't know where the clock is. A very merry Christmas to all in the Legislature and to the people of Ontario.

I see the Speaker rising to inform me that-

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.