DUNLOP'S BILL TARGETS 'DRUG-ENDANGERED' KIDS

A local MPP's effort to better protect "drug-endangered children" has
passed second reading.

Simcoe North MPP Garfield Dunlop's private member's bill, Bill 84,
would amend the Child and Family Services Act (CFSA), which "is not
strong enough to protect drug-endangered children," he said.

The bill unanimously passed second reading last week at Queen's Park.

The bill would amend the CFSA "by clearly identify drugendangered
children as a new category of children in need of protection;
classifying the act of drug endangering a child as child abuse, which
would automatically, under the CFSA, make this behaviour an offence
punishable by a sentence of up to two years, a fine of up to $2,000,
or both; and including exposure of a child to the production and
trafficking of all illegal drugs listed in Canada's Controlled Drugs
and Substances Act."

"We have to do everything possible to protect children who are
endangered by illegal drug activities. They are being raised in
dangerous environments where their health, well being and safety are
being threatened," Dunlop said. "We also need to give police and
child-protection workers the tools they need to do their jobs more
effectively, and that is exactly what my bill will do."

In a news release, Robert Herman, chief of the Thunder Bay Police
Service and president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police
(OACP), expressed his support for the bill "because it addresses our
concerns regarding legislative changes needed to protect
drugendangered children, including those exposed to trafficking activities.

"The OACP believes that the status quo is not good enough for
vulnerable children growing up in homes where marijuana, crystal meth
or other illegal drugs are produced and often trafficked."