Local MPP Randy Pettapiece reintroduced his private member’s bill – The Rea and Walter Act – in the provincial legislature on March 27.
The bill was wiped off the legislative agenda when the Liberal government prorogued the legislature ahead of the June election.
“Our bill responds to a real gap in firefighter safety”, said Pettapiece. “Firefighters will benefit from knowing which buildings contain truss-and-lightweight construction materials.”
The Rea and Walter Act is named in honour of two North Perth Fire Service members, Ken Rea and Ray Walter, who died battling a fire in March 2011. That tragedy happened when the roof of the Listowel Dollar Stop collapsed.
Following debate in the legislature, the Rea and Walter Act cleared its first major hurdle in April 2017, when MPPs voted unanimously to support it.
Rea and Walter family members, along with dozens of firefighters from throughout Perth-Wellington, made the trip to Queen’s Park to watch that debate.
In the months that followed, however, the government “left the bill to languish,” failing to bring it to a third and final vote, states a press release from Pettapiece.
“It’s disappointing,” Pettapiece said. “The benefits of this bill were obvious to everyone. I was so grateful for the strong support we received from local fire chiefs, the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs, and from all parties in the legislature.”
The decision to prorogue, and the throne speech that followed, effectively killed all bills before the legislature, along with Order Paper questions, motions and other measures.
Pettapiece questioned the Liberal government’s reasons for doing so.
“That decision [to prorogue] was not about the public interest,” Pettapiece said. “It’s about what was in the Liberals’ political self-interest.”
It allowed the government to use the throne speech as a kind of pre-election campaign commercial, he said.
The MPP is urging the government to fast-track the bill and bring it to a final vote in the legislature.
“I will keep pushing this bill for as long as I am serving in the legislature,” Pettapiece said.
“We are not giving up.”
