Goldie Ghamari - June 30, 2023


Bill 93： Joshua’s Law (Lifejackets for Life), 2023


Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

151.83397

Word count

1,751

Sentence count

72

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged


Summary

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Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
00:00:00.320 I recognize Ms. Gamari to move second reading.
00:00:05.160 Thank you, Madam Speaker.
00:00:06.520 I move second reading of Bill 93, An Act to Enact Joshua's Law, Life Jackets for Life, 2023.
00:00:12.560 Hear, hear.
00:00:16.340 Ms. Gamari has moved second reading of Bill 93, An Act to Enact Joshua's Law, Life Jackets for Life, 2023.
00:00:24.040 First one to Standing Order 100.
00:00:26.200 The Member has 12 minutes for her remarks.
00:00:29.400 Thank you, Madam Speaker.
00:00:31.600 Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak about my private member's bill, Bill 93, Joshua's Law, the Life Jackets for Life Act.
00:00:39.260 I would like to start off by thanking my friend and colleague, the former MPP for Perry Sound Muskoka, Mr. Norm Miller, who tabled this legislation in the previous session.
00:00:58.400 As you can tell, Madam Speaker, Mr. Miller is here in the Legislature today, and I would
00:01:06.900 like to thank him for joining us as we debate this very important piece of legislation.
00:01:12.520 I'm going to begin by speaking about my constituent, Cara McNulty, who is far too familiar with
00:01:17.860 the type of tragedy that Joshua's law aims to prevent.
00:01:22.660 Her 11-year-old son, Joshua, whom this bill is dedicated to, tragically passed away in
00:01:27.840 September of 2018, when the boat he was on with his father, brother and two other children
00:01:33.040 capsized near Rockport, Ontario.
00:01:36.300 Joshua was wearing a life jacket during the day, but at that moment, he was not.
00:01:42.020 And since then, Cara has been advocating for governments at all levels to make wearing
00:01:47.000 a life jacket mandatory for children in small vessels through her initiative Life Jackets
00:01:52.260 for Life.
00:01:53.520 To quote Cara McNulty, we're thrilled to hear about this bill.
00:01:57.560 Any progress on mandatory wear legislation is a step in the right direction.
00:02:02.160 I'd like to thank Cara for her tireless advocacy and for her support of this legislation.
00:02:07.660 I'm so honoured to continue working on the efforts that MPP Miller started in the
00:02:13.160 previous session.
00:02:16.020 When I tell friends, constituents and even some of my colleagues here in the Legislature
00:02:20.760 about this bill, many are shocked that it's not already the law for children to wear life
00:02:25.940 jackets or personal flotation devices also known as pfds on small personal vessels they have a hard
00:02:33.140 time believing that we're not already doing all that we can to protect children from these
00:02:38.420 preventable tragedies accidents are the leading cause of death for children in canada and not
00:02:45.060 wearing a life jacket is the number one risk factor for drowning while boating in 2021 the
00:02:51.940 The Drowning Prevention Research Centre of Canada found that 80% of people who died in
00:02:57.400 boating-related accidents between 2008 and 2017 were not wearing a life jacket, and another
00:03:04.560 5% were not wearing one properly.
00:03:08.100 According to the 2018 Canadian Drowning Report by the Drowning Prevention Research Centre
00:03:12.560 of Canada, 67% of children aged 5 to 14 who died from drowning were not wearing a personal
00:03:19.980 flotation device.
00:03:21.720 Behind each of these statistics is a life lost, and that leaves a family broken and
00:03:27.420 a community broken.
00:03:29.260 Greg Wilkinson, a former board member of Safe Quiet Lakes, said, the fact that 87% of drownings
00:03:35.480 in Ontario involve people who were not wearing a life jacket tells us all we need to know.
00:03:42.600 Pamela Fuseli, the President and CEO of Parachute Canada, said, evidence shows that legislation
00:03:48.940 and the enforcement of legislation is an effective approach to prevention.
00:03:54.760 Parachutes the Cost of Injury in Canada 2021 report showed that drowning was the third leading cause of death in children aged 14 and younger.
00:04:05.160 The Ottawa Drowning Prevention Coalition says online that drowning is one of the leading causes of injury-related accidents for Canadian children under the age of 5.
00:04:15.940 And Matt Cox, the president of the Ottawa Police Association, said in a statement,
00:04:20.340 The introduction of Bill 93, Joshua's Law, which requires children under the age of 12
00:04:25.340 to wear a personal flotation device or a life jacket while boating or using recreational water equipment is long overdue.
00:04:33.700 The City of Ottawa, like many places in Ontario, have many waterways,
00:04:37.660 and we truly hope Bill 93 will prevent any boating tragedies this summer.
00:04:42.620 Life jackets save lives.
00:04:44.920 We as a policing community are committed to finding ways to keep the City of Ottawa safe.
00:04:50.280 The Ottawa Police Association will support any level of government to attain this goal.
00:04:55.640 I'd now like to talk about the bill itself, Madam Speaker, and explain some of the details
00:04:59.880 and describe how this bill will protect Ontario's children from accidental drowning while boating.
00:05:06.040 If passed, Bill 93 would make it mandatory for any child aged 12 years or younger to wear a life
00:05:12.600 jacket or PFD while on a pleasure boat 9 metres in length or less that is underway or while
00:05:19.260 being towed behind a boat, for example, water skiing, wakeboarding or tubing.
00:05:24.780 A pleasure boat is defined as any vessel used or designated to be used in a navigating water
00:05:30.640 propelled by any kind of water, any kind of power, including human power, sail or motorized
00:05:37.740 power that is used exclusively for pleasure.
00:05:41.660 The federal rules that lay out what safety equipment is required on boats are based on
00:05:47.040 the length of the boat, and there are different requirements for boats of 6 metres, 6-9 metres
00:05:52.540 and 9-12 metres, etc.
00:05:55.780 This legislation applies to boats 9 metres or less because this would cover most runabouts
00:06:01.440 and water-skiing wakeboarding boats.
00:06:04.940 Under Bill 93, it is the responsibility of the parent or guardian to ensure that their
00:06:09.620 child is wearing a PFD or life jacket. If the child is under the supervision of another
00:06:14.900 person 18 years of age or older who is not their parent, then that person is responsible
00:06:19.880 for ensuring the child wears a life jacket. Failing to ensure that child is wearing a
00:06:25.200 life jacket or PFD would result in a fine of no more than $200 on conviction. This responsibility
00:06:32.380 is consistent with other provincial safety legislation. For example, the law surrounding
00:06:37.880 the use of seatbelts in cars, make it the responsibility of the driver to ensure that
00:06:43.400 all passengers under the age of 16 are wearing seatbelts, and the law requiring young cyclists
00:06:49.620 to wear a bike helmet puts the responsibility on the child's parent.
00:06:55.240 The proposed bill allows for an exception for children in an enclosed cabin where there
00:07:00.580 is no danger of falling overboard.
00:07:04.060 This legislation also includes a clause to give the government, through the lieutenant
00:07:08.420 governor in Canada, the ability to create exemptions.
00:07:12.420 This is because life jackets can interfere with some activities.
00:07:16.500 Life jackets and PFDs have come a long way, but for athletes involved in competitive paddling
00:07:21.600 or rowing, life jackets could get in the way.
00:07:25.260 So if the bill passes, I would encourage the government to work with groups like Row Ontario
00:07:30.080 to create an exemption for young athletes involved in formal supervised training or
00:07:36.080 competition.
00:07:37.080 I mentioned the federal rules around boat safety.
00:07:40.320 Some people might question whether this bill is within provincial jurisdiction.
00:07:44.200 To that, I would say that protecting the health and safety of our children is the responsibility
00:07:49.840 of all levels of government.
00:07:52.800 I would also like to point out that the City of Calgary's Water Safety By-law, which
00:07:56.680 requires any person in a vessel or other device used as a means of water transportation to wear
00:08:02.740 a life jacket while they are within the boundaries of the city. And when this bylaw was challenged,
00:08:09.000 Madam Speaker, to say that waterways fell under federal jurisdiction, Judge Judith Schreier ruled
00:08:15.600 that the bylaw was constitutional. Looking beyond our borders, Madam Speaker, this legislation is
00:08:21.380 extremely similar to laws that have been enacted by our neighbors in the United States. All
00:08:26.500 50 states have laws mandating life jacket use for children and at least 30 of these states
00:08:32.420 specifically require children aged 12 and under to wear a life jacket while in small recreational
00:08:38.660 vessels in ontario this law could be put into place with no additional cost to boaters and
00:08:45.860 that's because madam speaker it's already required under the small vessel regulations that boat
00:08:52.180 operators ensure that there is an appropriately sized life jacket or personal flotation device 0.98
00:08:58.120 for every passenger. No law-abiding boater should have to go out and purchase additional life
00:09:03.900 jackets. The only difference is that instead of being stored somewhere on the boat, the child's
00:09:09.580 life jacket is already on their body, and that could make all the difference in the world.
00:09:15.460 In an emergency, there's not always time to grab a life jacket and put it on properly,
00:09:19.760 And this is especially true of children.
00:09:23.060 As the President and CEO of Canada Safety Council said too frequently,
00:09:28.220 we see people drown without intending on even dipping their toe in the water,
00:09:32.520 and these types of tragedies are entirely avoidable.
00:09:35.900 If you're in a boat and accidentally fall into the water,
00:09:39.140 there's not always time to locate the life jacket you have on board and put it on.
00:09:44.120 Between 2008 and 2017, 34% of people known to have not been wearing a PFD when they drowned
00:09:50.860 had one parent in the boat, but were unable to put it on at the time of the incident.
00:10:04.280 Parents, guardians, and all adults are responsible for protecting the health and safety of children.
00:10:09.800 This bill, if passed, would clarify that ensuring children in their care wear a life jacket or a PFD
00:10:17.000 while on a small pleasure boat is a part of that responsibility.
00:10:21.720 This bill won't prevent all drownings, Madam Speaker, but I see this as a common-sense law
00:10:26.440 that would reduce the chances of children drowning in boating accidents.
00:10:31.720 Every child we lose because they were not wearing a life jacket is a tragic and preventable loss of life.
00:10:39.160 It permanently scars parents, families, and communities, and it has a terrible impact on our first responders.
00:10:48.400 Madam Speaker, that is why I'm asking my fellow members to protect the children of Ontario from avoidable harm
00:10:55.460 by supporting Bill 93, Joshua's Law, Life Jackets for Life Act.
00:11:01.180 Once again, I would like to thank the former member for Paris Saint-Moscowka, MPP Norm Miller,
00:11:06.860 for working so hard on this legislation,
00:11:10.700 for working so hard to introduce this legislation in 2021.
00:11:18.040 It's an honour to reintroduce this bill on his behalf,
00:11:22.400 and it is my hope that not only does this legislation pass second reading,
00:11:27.160 but that it passes third reading and becomes law in Ontario.
00:11:30.680 Thank you very much.