April 11, 2008
By: Caroline Grech, Staff Writer
Misled.
That?s the word that got rookie Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman escorted out of the Ontario Legislature Thursday.
Mr. Shurman said Minister of Health and Promotion Margaret Best misled the house about new regulations being enforced under the Ontario Smoke Free Act.
Mr. Shurman was questioning the minister on the validity of her statements about the Ontario Convenience Stores Association being on board with some of the measures in the act.
With an e-mail from Dave Bryans, president of the association, in hand that outlined several issues the association had with some of the regulations, Mr. Shurman said she was misleading the house.
The Speaker of the House, MP Steve Peters, advised Mr. Shurman that misled is not an appropriate word in the house and asked him to withdraw it.
Mr. Shurman refused to withdraw it and he was asked again, after which Mr. Shurman refused again.
There was one more warning before he was then led out of the chamber.
?I knew it was going to happen because I used improper language,? Mr. Shurman said, but said it won?t stop him from arriving at the house and raising concerns about the inequities involved in tobacco control.
?I?ll be back on Monday,? Mr. Shurman said, adding he?s not letting the issue go.
Among the issues he has dealt with related to the Smoke Free Act, is convenience store owners in his Thornhill riding who need more time to erect display walls for cigarettes, but the walls must be in place by May 31, according to the legislation.
While Mr. Shurman doesn?t disagree with the Ontario Smoke Free Act or the display walls, he believes the number of illegal cigarettes being sold are causing various businesses to lose money, making it unfair.
?It?s not a level playing field,? Mr. Shurman said, adding that convenience store owners have to pay for the new walls in the face of reduced revenue due to illegal cigarette sales.
Contraband cigarettes represent 37 per cent of cigarette sales in the province.