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| John Gignac and lost relatives |
The Ontario Legislature has voted unanimously to require homeowners to install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes. The private member’s bill received rare universal approval on the wisdom of such a precaution. The crusade to enact the law was driven by a family tragedy. In 2008, OPP Constable Laurie Hawkins, her husband Richard and their daughter and son, Cassandra, 14, and Jordan, 12, died of carbon monoxide in their Woodstock home. The apparent cause was a faulty gas fireplace. At right is a composite picture of John Gignac, an uncle to Laurie, with the family that died. He has campaigned for the law to try to honour the family’s memory. The legislation is called the The Hawkins-Gignac Act Carbon monoxide (CO) is colourless, odourless and tasteless, making it very difficult to detect. CO is commonly understood to be a threat where car engines run inside a garage. It is probably less widely known that furnaces and other open flame equipment generate CO and require correct ventilation. The new law will allow the fire code to be changed so that all homes are required to have CO detectors, said Progressive Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman, who pushed for the changes for five years. At present, only residences built after Aug. 6, 2001 are required to have CO detectors installed. Yukon was the first to make it mandatory, Hardeman said. Now that Ontario has passed this rule, it may spread to other provinces.
