Cornwall Ontario — MPP Jim McDonell’s Bill 61, the Technical Standards and Safety Amendment Act, 2013 is gathering momentum, with local business-people voicing their support for a reform of the Technical Standards and Safety Authority.

“I have, and will continue to listen to Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry’s job creators” – said MPP McDonell during a media availability hosted by Oxy-Arc International in Cornwall.

MPP Jim McDonell submitted the Bill on April 30 and insists it is tangible proof of the Ontario PC’s focus on job growth: “Ontario’s businesses need to have the opportunity to prosper and create jobs.

The TSSA places unnecessary roadblocks in their way, stifling innovation and their ability to compete in this very competitive market. By the time our businesses are able to work through the expensive, time consuming and unpredictable approval process, their competitors have already moved on to the next generation of equipment.

We need the ability to attract innovators and adopt new equipment and methods as soon as they are available, if we want to regain our leading position as the economic engine of Canada.  Reforming the TSSA is an essential step in this process”.

This Bill will make the TSSA’s design and inspection criteria transparent in order for businesses to design premises and equipment that can be validated without delay. Bill 61 will also create an accountable, public procedure for adopting new standards or amending existing ones, to accommodate new knowledge and inventions.

Bill 61 will also require TSSA inspectors to have at least two years’ experience as a TSSA license holder before being appointed an inspector. The agency’s inspection and safety criteria will be made public in order for all businesses and designers know what standard they are being held to and to ensure consistency.

MPP Jim McDonell concluded: “A full reform of the TSSA will only come once a majority Tim Hudak PC Government amends the agency’s governing regulations to ensure Ontario’s job-creators are allowed to innovate and prosper.

The Liberal Government demonstrated, with their latest budget, that job creation is not their priority. The case for changing the team that leads Ontario has never been clearer”.