Nancy L. Frost
Dear editor:
On Thursday, Feb. 26, Pickering-Scarborough MPP Wayne Arthurs introduced Bill 148-Visual Fire Alarm Systems Act, 2009, which would require all new provincial and municipal public buildings to be equipped with a visual fire alarm system.
For several years, the Canadian Hearing Society has advocated, on behalf of our culturally deaf, oral deaf, deafened, and hard-of-hearing consumers, for the right to have visual fire alarms installed in public provincial and municipal buildings.
In order to effectively save the lives of all Ontarians, fire safety regulations need to encompass the needs of people who do not have access to the auditory warning systems of traditional fire alarms.
The number of people who need these visual alarms is on the rise. Almost 25 percent of adult Canadians report having some hearing loss, although closer to 10 percent of people actually identify themselves as being deaf or hard of hearing.
The average age in Canada is 39 years; by 2030, it will be 45. And in 2030, Canadians aged 65 and older will represent 25 percent of the total population—nearly double the current 13 percent (Statistics Canada).
Accessible emergency notification is an issue of life and death for this growing number of Ontarians.
Although Bill 148 is a good start, we continue to look forward to the development and implementation of additional legislation that would require the same visual fire alarms be installed in residences, both owned and rented, with government funding available to offset associated installation costs.
We are asking residents of the Rainy River, Kenora, and Thunder Bay districts to help save lives by supporting Bill 148.
Contact your local MPP and ask him/her to vote in favour of the Visual Fire Alarm Systems Act.
Sincerely,
Nancy L. Frost
Regional Director,
Thunder Bay Region,
Canadian Hearing Society
