Well, well, well…turns out Wheels columnist Allan Johnson was mistaken about the root origins of Bill 117. After all the finger pointing and questions about motives, further investigation was required. Interestingly enough…this is a question of what came first? The chicken or the egg?

It turns out that MPP Jaczek, submitted Bill 117 as a result of encouragement by another citizen but the motivations are unknown. It was only after it passed the first reading when Mellor’s letter was passed along Jaczek. Jaczek and Mellor didn’t know about each other until after the first reading.

Calls to Jaczek’s office can confirm it.

Further investigation revealed that back in May, Mellor wrote her local MPP, and her letter was forwarded to Minister Bradley. She heard back from Bradley’s office in July and was basically blown off.
Neither Bradley or her own MPP were prepared to do anything with it. Mellor then met with Frank Klees to discuss options but nothing happened as a result of that meeting either.
Once Jaczek’s Bill was introduced, Mellor’s letter was forwarded to Jaczek to advise her that he was contacted by a concerned mother who would support her Bill. Jaczek’s office contacted Ms. Mellor to rally her support in time for the 2nd reading of the Bill.

In short, Mellor’s letter wasn’t the cause for Bill 117 but she certainly supports it and not just for the purpose of protecting her own son. She doesn’t think kids should be on bikes period. Hey…we all have our opinions.

Perhaps Wheels columnist Johnson should have made a few phone calls of his own and do some research BEFORE he points a finger at someone of being the root cause of something that affects so many people. As a result of his article, we have all incorrectly believed the same erronious opinion.

Shame on me for NOT doing my own research first.

The fact remains though that this Bill is statistically unjustified. There simply isn’t enough statistical evidence to justify such a law.

Parents should be left to raise their kids as they see fit and I for one will never support something that bans a child from experiencing what joys life has to offer. Although I do believe that a lot can be done to mitigate the risks though. In our case, I would support a law for mandatory riding gear.

Parents spend hundreds of dollars on hockey gear for their kids, so why not riding gear for the motorcycle?