Trailblazing

A fascinating couple of bits of Hansard today in the Bow-Wow Parliament, as Susan Sullivan introduces a bill to regulate tanning, piercing, tattooing, and other such body arts:

MS SULLIVAN: In Canada, a number of provinces have either moved forward with regulating tanning facilities or are considering doing so. Nova Scotia currently has regulations in place to ban tanning for those under nineteen years of age. Nova Scotia also requires tanning bed salons to display mandatory health warning signs. This fall, British Columbia may limit the use of tanning beds to those under eighteen, and Quebec is considering an age restriction as well. As you can see, Mr. Speaker, we are among the top three or four provinces in the country to move forward with this legislation.

MR. S. COLLINS: I am proud to say that, while we are not the first Province to adopt such legislation, we are amongst the first. Only Quebec and Nova Scotia have a law prohibiting people under the age of nineteen from using tanning beds. All other provinces have voluntary guidelines, which we have as of right now. I am happy to say that BC, Ontario, and Manitoba all have legislation in the works. We are not the trailblazer, but we are one of the few, which I think is something to be very proud of.

We have taken essentially a proactive approach with this. Many provinces have not jumped on board yet. There are some in the queue that are trying to get their legislation together as we are doing right now. It is good to see that all the Canadian provinces are moving towards this. If you look on an international level, as was stated earlier, France, the UK, and Australia have similar measures. The entire countries do.

So, when it comes to tanning beds and tongue-piercing, Dundergov will gladly (a) point to the legislative experience of other provinces, (b) boast about being among the first provinces in Canada to legislate in the field, and (c) actually take some legislative action.




But not when it comes to the whistleblower protection that was promised for the first post-election session of House of Futility back in 2007.