Protecting Child Performers is in your hands now Premier
13 December 2013
Premier Kathleen Wynne
Room 281
Main Legislative Building
Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1A1
Dear Premier,
Yesterday during Routine Procedures, Committee Reports, I moved unanimous consent for Third Reading and Royal Assent of Bill 71, Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013. The first time that I moved it an MPP from the Official Opposition denied consent, however, the next two attempts were blocked by your House Leader.
As I said in the media release I issued yesterday “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.”
Premier, ACTRA, Equity, CMPA and PACT all worked on this Bill, but, most importantly, they worked with your Minister of Labour and several of his staff to ensure that amendments were in the best interests of child performers and did not offend other legislation. Everyone worked long, hard hours to get this Bill ready and attended the Standing Committee on General Government for the clause-by-clause session.
During the clause-by-clause discussion of the Bill, if an amendment was questioned Ministry staff provided the necessary clarification and co-ordinated this with ACTRA, Equity and PACT at the meeting. In all 63 amendments – 95% Liberal – were passed in 65 minutes – a record for the Committee. But more importantly, it was a record of all parties and stakeholders working in unison to ensure the best protection for child performers. Everyone was of the understanding that Bill 71 would receive third reading and Royal Assent on 12 December.
Would you please help me to understand why, given these weeks of co-operation on getting this Bill ready, given the importance of providing protection for child performers and given the assurance by your Minister of Labour’s staff that ‘we want this Bill done’, your House Leader took action – not once, but twice – to ensure that it would not get done yesterday.
Premier, I am very saddened by the behaviour of your House Leader – who I can only assume was acting under your direction. And I am extremely disappointed that you, as a parent and grandparent, would allow such an egregious political sham to have happened yesterday, leaving child performers again without protection in law.
Premier Wynne, Bill 71 is now completely in your hands. It’s up to you to take carriage of the Bill and bring it to the Legislature for Third Reading debate and Royal Assent. Along with all stakeholders and particularly child performers, I implore you to look past political game-playing and do the right thing by bringing Bill 71, Protecting Child Performers Act, 2013 immediately for Third Reading and Royal Assent, when the Legislature reconvenes on 18 February 2014.
Sincerely,
Paul Miller, MPP
Hamilton East – Stoney Creek
cc ACTRA
Equity
CMPA
PACT
Minister of Labour
House Leaders
Media
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