DRUG BILL PASSES

SIMCOE NORTH - A private member's bill, championed by Simcoe North
MPP Garfield Dunlop and aimed at protecting children, is one step
closer to becoming law.

"This is about doing the right thing," Dunlop said this
week.

Bill 84 proposes stiff penalties for those convicted of exposing
children to illegal drug production and trafficking.

It recently passed second reading with unanimous support by the three
parties.

"We have to do everything possible to protect children who are
endangered by illegal drug activities," added Dunlop, Critic for
Community Safety and Correctional Services.

The legislation would amend the Child and Family Services Act by
identifying "drug endangered children" as a new and separate category.

Exposing a child to production or trafficking of illegal drugs would
be classified as child abuse and result in up to two years in jail, a
$2,000 fine or both.

Dunlop's bill has moved to the Standing Committee of Justice
Policy.

The Ontario government must decide whether to call it forward for
public hearings and third reading.

"I'm hoping we can put aside party politics and work together in the
Legislature to move this bill forward in order to protect all those
innocent children who are affected by these dangerous conditions
daily," Dunlop added.

The bill has the support of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of
Police, which last year called on the government for legislation
protecting children exposed to drug-related activities.

Said association president Robert Herman:

"Police in Ontario have witnessed firsthand why current legislation
must be improved based on the direct experiences of our officers
involving drug-endangered children."

Herman, chief of Thunder Bay Police, added 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."

Herman, in a letter to Child and Youth Services Minister Laurel
Broten, said a lack of penalties or deterrents often results in
children being returned to homes where illegal drugs are produced.