Liberals Not Acting on Bed Bugs

Pest control

M^{me France Gélinas:}

The McGuinty government refused all of their requests. Close to three years since Toronto Public Health raised the alarm bell on this issue, infestations have exploded.

Why has the Premier ignored public health experts on the bedbug issue?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty:

This is a very important matter of public health. Again, I want to thank the MPP for Eglinton–Lawrence for his leadership for the summit that he hosted. I want to thank him for the recommendations that he has put forward.

I spoke with him on this very subject yesterday. We are now beginning to consider those recommendations, and I commit to finding a way to move forward on some of those recommendations at the earliest possible opportunity. I want to do that in concert with our public health officials around the province; I think we have a shared responsibility. We look forward to providing some leadership in this area too.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters):

Mme France Gélinas:

The Toronto medical officer of health has been clear that they need funding support from the province to prevent the spread of bedbugs. Over a year ago, the chief medical officer of health from Toronto said Toronto Public Health is not adequately resourced to address this issue.

I can’t believe that in this province, in this city of Toronto that has lived through SARS, we do not take public health as an important issue, as the serious issue that it is.

How can this government dismiss repeated requests over three years from public health experts? How many more homes will have to be affected, how many hotels, how many hospitals, how many long-term care, before the McGuinty government finally takes action to stop the bedbugs?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty:

One of those responsibilities that we sense is to ensure that we’re providing good, solid, reliable information with respect to the bedbug issue. I’m proud that our deputy chief medical officer of health attended the summit and is now also reviewing the work that was conducted there and the recommendations that we received.

I do want to say, and I would remind my honourable colleague, that we have provided a record level of funding to the Toronto public health services. We’ve almost doubled it since 2003; it’s up $60 million.

But I also want to remind my honourable colleague that bedbugs, while they have been discussed with a great deal of profile here in the community of Toronto, also affect other parts of the province. We want to ensure that our response to the summit recommendations speak to those concerns broadly as well.
Again, I’m pleased to engage in an important discussion on this issue. This is not an easy topic for many to discuss. The fact of the matter is, there’s some stigma and embarrassment associated with it; there’s a tremendous amount of fear.I want to remind him that his colleague is asking for resources to help in this war. Supplementary? I appreciate the question, and I want to begin by congratulating the MPP for Eglinton–Lawrence, Mike Colle, for his leadership on this very important issue. Ma question est pour le premier ministre. Bedbugs are a growing nuisance and a health concern to families across Ontario. Toronto Public Health asked the province to get involved in the fight to control bedbugs back in February 2008. They asked again in February 2009, and last week, they asked again if the McGuinty government would help them fight the bedbugs.