You may already have a carbon monoxide detector in your home, but soon it could be mandatory for every home in Ontario to have one.  A private member’s bill called the Hawkins Gignac Act comes up for a final vote in the legislature today.  The bill honours the  memory of Laurie, Richard, Cassandra and Jordan Hawkins, members of a Woodstock family tragically poisoned by carbon monoxide in 2008.

The family’s uncle, John Gignac, took up the cause and Oxford MPP Ernie Hardeman  brought it to the legislature.  “It was the first week in December and the Hawkins family perished in Woodstock,” Hardeman explained to the New AM 740’s Goldhawk Fights Back, “and in fact, I introduced this bill the following week on December 11th 2008.”  Hardeman also says, “there are places where carbon monoxide detectors need to be and we need that little extra push to give the fire department the ability to go out and make sure that they’re in every home.”

Health Canada says carbon monoxide is colourless, odourless and tasteless, and hard to spot without a detector.