| MPP
Arnott again prods Minister to show support for Double
Hatter firefighters
Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted Arnott continued to stand
up for the right of firefighters to volunteer during
question period in the Ontario Legislature on May 12,
2004. Offering his Bill 52 as a solution, he asked the
Minister of Community Safety when he will take concrete
steps to protect double-hatter firefighters from union
intimidation that forces them to quit as volunteers.
“For
six weeks the Minister has maintained that he is trying
to bring the parties back to the table for more discussions
and mediation, and if they couldn’t mediate he would
consider a legislative solution,” Mr. Arnott said afterward.
“Unfortunately, there appears to have been no action
taken yet, no concrete steps to deal with the problem.”
“In
previous statements in the House the Minister has shown
a positive interest on this issue. I expected him to
be able to provide an update by this time. If he doesn’t
get engaged in solving the problem more and more rural
communities will lose their double hatters because of
union threats and coercion,” said Mr. Arnott.
In
his response at Question Period, the Minister pointed
back at the previous government and to Mr. Arnott’s
similar Bill 30, which was not passed into law. In fact,
Bill 30 received a record amount of debate for any Private
Member’s initiative at the Legislature. In fact, and
more than two-thirds of the Conservatives present at
the Third Reading vote supported Mr. Arnott’s Bill.
Simcoe-Grey
MPP Jim Wilson reminded the Minister of the considerable
support for Mr. Arnott’s Bill during Question Period
and he demanded that the Minister call Bill 52 forward
for a vote.
“This
is a serious problem affecting public safety in Ontario
but the solution is not complicated. The Legislature
can solve the problem by protecting the democratic freedom
to serve as a volunteer firefighter by passing Bill
52,” concluded Mr. Arnott.
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