Sarnia-Lambton MPP Bob Bailey's bill to ban the use, reuse, import, transport or sale of asbestos in Ontario unanimously passed second reading at Queen's Park by a vote of 81-0.
The bill was passed on Thursday and will now go to committee for review, before third and final reading. Bailey hopes it will become legislation by the end of the year.
"We'll bring people in for the committee review from all over Ontario, including Sarnia-Lambton. I know there are people in Sarnia-Lambton that will want to speak to it like the widows of the victims of chemical valley, the labour and business community," says Bailey.
The PC member's bill would also require the province to create a public registry of all provincially owned or leased buildings containing the deadly substance.
Bailey says it was great to have such strong support.
"It's especially great to have the cabinet ministers, including the minister of environment and the minister of labour, both give their support and say they'll help move it along," he says. "That reassures me because that's what you need to move the bureaucracy at the end of the day."
This follows the announcement of a federal asbestos ban and registry to be implemented next year. Bailey's bill would shorten the timeline for the ban in Ontario and he says the registry would include buildings not listed in the federal registry.
New data from the Association of Workers' Compensation Boards of Canada show asbestos was the cause of death in 367 accepted claims last year, making it the number one workplace killer in the country.
Canada has never banned asbestos and it continues to enter the country in imports of brake pads and pipes.
There have been 5,614 asbestos work related deaths since 1996, with Sarnia being called ground zero
Bailey has a petition on his website, www.bobbaileympp.com.