Ontario's governing Liberals plan to toughen penalties for motorists who are caught phoning or texting while driving.
"There will be action coming, whether it's regulations, whether it's legislation or some combination of education and new penalties – haven't decided," Transportation Minister Glen Murray said Wednesday.
"We're really in the middle of looking at what would be most effective,” he said.
That could include steeper fines, demerit points, or even licence suspension.
The Liberals banned drivers in 2009 from using any hand-held electronic devices to text, e-mail or talk while driving, except for 911 calls. Ontario's top court says it's illegal to even hold a phone while driving.
“The results of driving distracted can be devastating in the sense that we've had fatal collisions as a result of being inattentive,” said Alana Holtom with Waterloo Regional Police.
Right now, drivers can be fined up to $500 if they're caught using a cellphone behind the wheel, but unlike other provinces, there are no demerit points attached.
That’s sparked many complaints that the current penalty in Ontario doesn’t go far enough.
In the last four years, more than 7,000 people have been charged with distracted driving in Waterloo region.
“When people are faced with the loss of their licence for a week or two or a month they take those considerations very seriously,” said MPP Lisa McLeod.
McLeod and the Progressive Conservatives say they support punishing distracted drivers with demerit points, which would drive up their insurance costs and force them to take a driver's test.
"Right now, it's not working what's going on," said Tory Jeff Yurek. "Too many people are being killed due to distracted driving and we need to do something as a government to ensure that decreases."
But New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath said she's not sure whether the Liberals will ever move ahead with the changes.
"I think there was a sense that the government was really interested in doing this, and now my understanding is that they're pulling back a bit for more consultation and discussion," she said.
"I guess it's going in the Liberal Bermuda Triangle of consultation and discussion."
The opposition parties have mocked Premier Kathleen Wynne over her propensity for consultation, saying she's created 36 panels to advise her government since she became premier last February because she can't make any decisions.
They include consultations on issues such as funding public transit, the embattled horse-racing sector, minimum wage, jobs and growth, payday loans, the towing industry, a long-term energy strategy, the scope of practice for nurses, changing the mining tax, putting calorie counts on restaurant menus, university course loads and even bee health.
Wynne says she isn't going to apologize for consulting the public on important issues, adding that the previous Tory government often acted without first talking to people.
With files from CTV Kitchener.
