Protecting Child Performers and Grandchildren
OpEd 2 January 2014
December was a month of highs and lows at Queen’s Park. As I’ve mentioned previously, my Private Member’s Bill 71, Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013, finally made it to the Standing Committee for public hearings on 11 December. All stakeholders made presentations to the Committee and were asked quite probing questions from all three parties.
The following week on 18 December the Standing Committee voted on a series of amendments to the Bill. The amendments – which were well researched and written by the Minister of Labour’s staff – were brought to the Committee and in an unprecedented show of unity, all three parties worked to-gether and passed 63 amendments in 65 minutes – a record for the Committee. The spirit of co-operation in that Committee room was palpable and we were certain that protection for child performers would become law the next day in the Legislature.
Protection of child performers should never be a political game, but in the worst display of political game playing, this protection that could have made Ontario the third province in Canada to protect child performers was denied by the Government and the Official Opposition.
Afterward ACTRA Toronto wrote to each Party saying “this is the one industry where children do work in Ontario, and while all the industry partners have a strong history and commitment to protecting children under our collective agreements, there are many young performers in the live and recorded entertainment industry without any protection. This legislation is long overdue.”
I am quite saddened by the behaviour of the Government and the Official Opposition when we had a chance to get this Bill – which enjoyed all Party support during the writing and Committee process – passed into law and they played political games ensuring that it would not come to a vote that day.
We have another chance when the Legislature returns on 18 February for all parties to work to-gether and direct our efforts at passage of Bill 71 as expeditiously as possible.
In my six years as your MPP I’ve brought forward two significant issues to protect and support children. Bill 71, as mentioned above and the Temporary Care Assistance issue that cut financial support for children being raised by their grandparents.
On that issue, we thought that at least in Hamilton, we had broken through this government’s insistence on cutting off support to grandchildren for the very reasons that one is granted a position as a foster parent. I’ve heard some talk that the Hamilton system has suffered some glitches, which my staff is working on getting sorted out. But, it’s still a mind-boggling system that requires certain criteria to become foster parents, but for that exact same criteria will cut-off financial assistance to grandchildren being raised by their grandparents.
We’ll keep on top of these two significant issues and let you know what happens with them.
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