The Crackdown on the Vaping Community
With the introduction of the Ontario Liberal government’s marijuana retail legislation, this government has triggered a heavy crackdown on the vaping community and introduced further prohibitions on tobacco harm reduction products.
I need help from you and the vape community in demanding that the government separate these new prohibitions from Bill 174 so that they can be debated and voted on honestly.
Under schedule 3 of Bill 174 - Cannabis, Smoke-Free Ontario and Road Safety Statute Law Amendment Act, 2017, vape shops will be prohibited from displaying vape devices, components or juices, allowing their customers to handle vape products, or test flavours before purchase. This bill places further restrictions on areas of use, and where exemptions are made, those using vape products are forced to share spaces with those using traditional tobacco products.
Schedule 3 of this bill also introduces a mechanism for the government to prohibit the sale of certain flavours of vape products through regulation. Regulations do not come before the Legislature for debate and may be made at will by the government. Given this governments penchant to ban flavoured tobacco products I would not be surprised to see flavours described as “kid friendly”, such as Cotton Candy, Rice Crispies and Gummi Bears as well as other ordinary flavours such as vanilla, chocolate, grape or other fruit flavours, be swiftly prohibited shortly after this bill is passed.
It is unacceptable to me that they would incorporate further prohibitions on tobacco harm reduction products in the same piece of legislation meant to enact the legal retail and distribution of cannabis.
It is imperative that Schedule 3 of the act be separated from the bill and the merits of the additional prohibition and restrictions on vape products be debated and voted on separate from those enacting the legal sale and distribution of cannabis.
As you may be aware, the framework for the legal sale and distribution of cannabis must be in place by July 1st meaning that this bill is most likely to be adopted. Therefore it is up to us to speak out and make sure schedule 3 is separated from the bill.
The vape community needs to come together and tell the government we want Schedule 3 of Bill 174 separated!
I encourage everyone to write to the Premier, Attorney General, Minister of Health, Minister of Transport and the House Leaders of each party, whose contact information you can find below, voicing your support for the separation of Schedule 3 from the bill so that it can be debated and voted on independently.
Please share this message with your friends, families and local vape shops so that we can have the greatest sum of our voices heard!
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Premier - Kathleen Wynne
[email protected]
416-325-1941
Room 281, Main Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1
Attorney General - Yasir Naqvi
[email protected]
416-325-7754
Office of the Government House Leader
Room 223, Main Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A2
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care - Eric Hoskins
[email protected]
416-327-4300
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
10th Floor, Hepburn Block
80 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario M7A 2C4
Minister of Transportation – Steven Del Duca
416-327-9200
Ministry of Transportation
3rd Floor, Ferguson Block
77 Wellesley Street West
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1Z8
PC House Leader – Jim Wilson
[email protected]
416-325-2069
Room 241, North Wing, Main Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A8
Third Party House Leader – Giles Bisson
[email protected]
416-325-7122
Room 112, Main Legislative Building, Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A5
You Be The Judge
Below you will find the full, unedited recording of the meeting that took place at Tay Valley Township on June 26th which has resulted in claims of workplace harassment against myself for bringing the concerns of my constituents to the attention of the council. I have released this recording, in addition, to my public comments on the matter as to have all the information regarding this claim to be open and public. Take a listen to the recording below, read my public comments and you be the judge, are these comments paramount to workplace harassment?
Take a listen to the recording and public remarks below and you be the judge, do these comments constitute workplace harassment?
Read moreThe Law Is Not Meant To Prevent Accountability
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 19th 2017
(QUEENS PARK) - Randy Hillier (MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox & Addington) is facing an allegation of workplace harassment initiated by the Council of the township of Tay Valley.
The allegation asserts that by bringing the concerns and complaints he’s received from his constituents to the attention of municipally elected representatives, he had violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Further, the allegation also asserts that his opinions on the proper application, interpretation, and enforcement of provincial laws were unwelcome by the complainants, and therefore constituted “workplace harassment.”
“It is my legal obligation to uphold the laws of Ontario and my mandated responsibility to provide advocacy and assistance to my constituents who have cause to feel the law is being unjustly applied against them or incorrectly interpreted to their detriment,” said Hillier. “While many provincial laws are administered and enforced by municipal employees, they remain provincial laws nonetheless, and it is fully under my jurisdiction and responsibility as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to provide advice on their application when justifiable concerns are brought to my attention.”
The OHSA defines workplace harassment as “Engaging in a course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in the workplace that is known or ought to be reasonably known as unwelcome.”
“To suggest that my role as a representative for my constituents is a vexatious activity is simply ridiculous and beyond the pale,” Hillier added. “Any, indeed all criticism could be construed as unwelcome; if I used that as the guide in my advocacy not only would nothing ever get resolved, but it would lead to empowering arbitrary decision-making and unreasonable and oppressive governments. I brought my constituent’s concerns forward professionally and respectfully, and in the manner and context they were conveyed to me.”
“I find these actions of Tay Valley Council extremely disappointing. I will not be intimidated from representing my constituents on matters of provincial jurisdiction, and I cannot allow injustice to prevail because opposing it may hurt someone’s feelings,” Hillier concluded.
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Contact:
Queen’s Park 416-325-2244
Perth 613-267-8239
[email protected]
Provincial Policing Act changes likely to act as ‘carrot’ for provincial vote: Hillier
Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington MPP Randy Hillier speaks about changes to the Police Services Act during the Lanark County association of police services boards meeting at the Ocean Wave Fire Company boardroom in Carleton Place on June 28. - Desmond Devoy/Metroland
"Local MPP Randy Hillier believes that provincial policing changes could be brought in by Christmas...
...Hillier, the MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, made a partisan joke that “whenever I speak to the Liberal government, I walk away with more questions than answers.”
As of right now, he said “we can only speculate,” as to what the Wynne Liberals will propose to change the act, though some hints have been dropped along the way.
“The government will not telegraph any changes until they are ready to table it,” Hillier said. While leaks are not uncommon around Queen’s Park, “the legislature must be the first to see” any proposed legislation changes. Even so, the changes are “not cast in stone.”
He noted that the Liberals are possibly in the last year of their mandate and “it will be tabled earlier rather than later,” he said, likely when the legislature resumes sitting in the fall.
Maureen Towaij, of the Tay Valley Township PSB, said that she had attended the same meeting in Quinte West as Fennell and that it was her understanding that "they intend to introduce the legislation in September.”
To this, Hillier replied that “whatever you hear from another politician, you take with a grain of salt,” but he agreed that “it just makes sense,” to introduce it this fall, although, with a Liberal majority, “they can pass a piece of legislation in a day if they so wanted to.”
Later in the meeting, Hillier claimed that he predicted that any policing changes could see third reading by this December, and that “it’ll be dangling as a carrot for next year’s election...”
Read the rest of the story at insideottawavalley.com here.