Mr Tony Martin (Sault Ste Marie): I stand today to thank all those people across Ontario who participated in the hearings, however limited, that took place in Ottawa, Windsor, Toronto, Thunder Bay and Sudbury with regard to Bill 125, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and the shadow hearings in London on Saturday. My apologies to all those who couldn't attend because we didn't come to your community.

It needs to be known that we in this caucus encouraged the government to take their time, to wait until January, February or March, when they could go out and visit more smaller and larger communities in different places across this province. It's a huge province and transportation is a huge challenge, particularly at this time of year. Many people did not have their voices heard. Many of you have been working on this effort to remove barriers for those living with disabilities for a long time now, some since the early 1970s, working to have an effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act enacted in Ontario. I heard you and our caucus heard you as you called for major amendments to Bill 125.

Ladies and gentlemen, today's the day. Today is a very important day in the very young life of this bill. We'll find out today if the government actually heard those submissions so ably delivered and if the government is serious about giving this bill some effectiveness and some teeth, because today they will table their amendments, or they won't, and we'll be watching.

 

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