McGuinty supports banning the use of tanning salons by people under the age of 18

London Community News

By Rob Ferguson An NDP push to ban children from tanning beds has won the support of the minority Liberal government. Premier Dalton McGuinty said he’ll back a private member’s bill introduced last April by New Democrat MPP France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) instead of having Health Minister Deb Matthews develop her own legislation. That, he said, will be a faster way of getting the legislation passed at a time when there’s “a strong consensus in the scientific community” about the dangers of tanning beds to young skin. The premier made his remarks after touring a cancer treatment centre Friday at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto. The plan is to have a second reading vote on the Gélinas bill, which would ban tanning salon use by those under 18, and then send it to legislative committee for further study, including some amendments the Liberals would like to make. McGuinty said he phoned Gélinas on Thursday to tell her: “Let’s go with your bill.”

- Torstar News Service