Dec 14, 2008
Whitchurch-Stouffville
December 13, 2008 09:22 AM
By Keely Grasser
Staff Reporter (The Liberal)
A private member's bill seeking to ban children under 14 from riding on the back of motorcycles has passed second reading.
The bill, introduced by Markham-Oak Ridges MPP Helena Jaczek, was debated in the House of Commons on Dec. 4.
"As a family physician working in the emergency room, one of the most tragic cases I ever saw was a boy of about 10 who had been run over by a car," Ms Jaczek, a doctor and former York Region medical officer of health, recounted to the House. "He was conscious and in extreme pain as we removed his clothes to examine his torso, where the tire marks were clearly visible and had done severe damage to his internal organs. Happily, he survived after emergency surgery, but it is an image I will never forget."
Ms Jaczek laid out some statistics in support of her bill. She said that from 1995 to 2005, 199 motorcycle passengers 15 or younger were injured.
But motorcycle enthusiasts have been rallying against the MPP's bill, saying not only is the bill unneeded, but would take away a valued family tradition.
"I would like to explain what this bill is not about," Ms Jaczek told the house. "It is not about questioning the love that those parents who have ridden motorcycles with their children as passengers have for their own precious children ... However, unfortunately, the numbers speak for themselves. Children are being hurt, and seriously."
MPPs spoke both for and against Ms Jaczek's bill.
Frank Klees, MPP for Newmarket-Aurora, said he's been a rider since age 17, but added at no point did it cross his mind to put a young child on the back of a motorcycle.
"The arguments of protecting people against harm can evolve into reductio ad absurdum. Yes, a motorcyclist is more vulnerable in the event of an accident, because there is no cage around him or her, than is a person in a car. But I put to you that you in your tiny little cheap Toyota Tercel are far more vulnerable than I am in my Chevy pickup truck in the event of an accident," said NDP house leader Peter Kormos, speaking against the bill.
Thornhill MPP Peter Shurman said Ms Jazcek is proposing a solution to a problem that doesn't exist.
"What is the motivation of the proposal, then? If you ask me, the member for Oak Ridges-Markham has overdosed on the Liberal nanny-statist Kool-Aid and is suffering from the father-knows-best hangover that ails her party and stems right down from Premier Dalton McGuinty, a.k.a. Big Daddy. Another ban - kill me now," he said.
"Denial of risk is a very common human reaction," Ms Jaczek countered.
"In my career, I've seen young girls who thought they could never get pregnant and smokers who thought they were somehow magically protected from the dangers of tobacco."
She said she sees motorcycle passengers under 14 as an unnecessary risk.
The house voted to send the bill to the justice policy committee, albeit with some nay votes.