Motion to pass tanning bed legislation moving forward

With the summer sun fading fast, the Liberals at Queen’s Park have turned their attention to the issue of tanning beds. They say they are having trouble pushing ahead with Bill 30 which would ban people under the age of 18 from using the beds. But the question seems to be is this gridlock or gamesmanship?

Scot Urquhart has the latest take on the issue.

Talk about tanning bed legislation has been floating around the legislature for almost seven years, but it seems that Kathleen Wynne’s minority government, is suddenly in a big hurry, to pass its’ bill.

Wednesday morning, Health Minister Deb Matthews urged opposition members to move ahead with the legislation which she says is urgently needed to protect the health of young teens in Ontario.

The Ontario Medical Association says, tanning beds can be dangerous, and a potential source of melanoma. And the OMA applauded the minister’s initiative to push the bill ahead before the “indoor tanning” season gets underway.

Opposition parties however, say they are mystified. Both the Tories and the NDP have indicated that they will support the legislation; that was first introduced, in March. NDP MPP Gilles Bisson says there is no gridlock; the Liberals simply failed to organize their legislative calendar properly:

“This is time allocation. This is a tool you use when there is very important business in the house to be dealt with that’s being obstructed and this is not the case. We have said, we will vote for this thing, we will not debate it anymore. We’ll allow it to go through committee. Where’s the crisis? It’s the government that’s creating the crisis.”

Health Minister Deb Matthews reacted this way: “I’m calling on both opposition parties to support it. To do the right thing. To put safety for young people ahead of political games.”

Each side is accusing the other of playing games. The Liberals say opposition parties are blocking the business of the legislature, while the Tories and NDP say the minority Wynne government wants to create a false crisis in order to justify a fall election.