Mr Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North): My question today is for the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Recently, as you know, the two-hatter issue has been a very important issue in rural Ontario, as has the loss of volunteer firefighters. As we know, it affects community safety. Minister, can you inform this House when your new mediation-before-legislation process will begin and, more importantly, can you inform us who will conduct the mediation?

Hon Monte Kwinter (Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services): The member has asked this question several times. If this issue could be easily resolved, that party, when they were in government, would have resolved it. They even had one of their members bring in a private member's bill, and their own party defeated it.

What we have is a situation where there's obviously a problem. I've already been told that the Adams report is not acceptable, that they are not prepared to sit down and do a mediation. My challenge is to come up with a structured mediation so that going into this mediation they will know what the parameters are. We are working on that. We are finalizing that. Once we get that finalized, we will appoint a mediator to do it, and hopefully we will come to a solution that will do what my major challenge and my major goal is: to provide safety for all the citizens of Ontario.

Mr Dunlop: Thank you very much for your response. When Minister Runciman was awaiting the recommendations of the report by Justice George Adams, a moratorium was in place to avoid the further loss of any of the professional firefighters on the volunteer fire services, a moratorium that was lifted very shortly after your election. Minister, will you endeavour to reinstate the moratorium until the outcome of the mediation is complete?

Hon Mr Kwinter: There are ongoing discussions with all the parties. The fire marshal is absolutely key to this whole exercise, because it is his responsibility to make sure the people of Ontario have adequate fire protection. I am in touch with him on a regular basis, he is in touch with the parties and, as I say, we will get this resolved.