Bill C-321

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against persons who provide health services and first responders)

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to require a court to consider the fact that the victim of an assault is a person who provides health services or a first responder to be an aggravating circumstance for the purposes of sentencing.

[Danette Thomsen, British Columbia Regional Council Member, North East Region, British Columbia Nurses' Union]

Good afternoon.

I'd like to acknowledge that I personally live on the unceded territories of the Lheidli T'enneh, where MP Doherty is from. Today I join you from the lands of the Coast Salish peoples—the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh.

It is an absolute privilege to be here with you today speaking on behalf of our members.

When you consider acts of violence as a cause of workers from all occupations taking time away from work, nurses represent 30% of total claims, the second-highest occupation behind nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates. Between 2018 and 2022, nurses reported an average of 51 injuries per month caused by acts of violence in B.C. alone. The number of injuries reported over a four-year period between 2013 and 2017 rose by 49%, from 1,653 to 2,458. It's unacceptable.

BCNU represents approximately 48,000 members in the province of B.C.

You just have to turn on the news to see the increase in aggression in our society. Wait times in health care facilities due to circumstances outside of nurses' control are increasing, and incidents of violence are increasing along with them. Nurses working short-staffed, trying diligently to give the best care to their patients, are being targeted. They need to be protected. That is our job—your job and my job. We need to do this today.

Their families need them to return home safe. Can you imagine going home and not being able to hold your young child due to having been assaulted at work? Can you imagine a patient in a waiting room calling 911 to warn that a health care worker is about to get seriously injured, if not killed? This patient then proceeded to attack one of our male nurses and attempted to choke him out. The nurse who was attacked was working a shift his wife was supposed to work. Had he not been there, his month-long recovery could have looked so much different for somebody else.

What about the nurse in rural B.C. who, last January, entered a female patient's room and was attacked? Can you imagine being held over a chair, receiving punch after punch, with handfuls of your hair being pulled out, while waiting frantically for help to come from the RCMP? In many rural communities at night, there's only one RCMP officer on duty. That nurse was freed by another male patient, who assisted.

We hear horrifying stories. Many are so horrifying that I can't even tell them. The psychological impacts on our nurse victims and the colleagues who try to assist them last far beyond the physical trauma. This is costing our already crumbling health care system, as nurses are now dealing with their own mental health injuries and time off work, trying to heal. We are losing nurses from our system. This is the first time ever that B.C. is reporting empty seats in nursing programs. There's normally a wait-list to get into our programs, and we're not even filling our seats.

We have an obligation to protect those who are protecting others. We have an obligation to care for the caregivers.

I'm excited to be a part of this today. Thank you for having us here as the B.C. Nurses' Union. I look forward to answering any of your questions.

We fully support Bill C-321.

[Linda Silas, President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions]

Good afternoon.

Sorry, Elizabeth. That bell is the worst part of the job.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, committee members, for the invitation. It's a privilege to be here.

As you know, I would like to acknowledge that the land that we are sitting on is the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. I'm a proud New Brunswicker from the beautiful land of the Mi'kmaq people.

I'm here as president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and on behalf of my 250,000 members. I'm proud that Danette, one of our leaders in British Columbia, will be presenting soon.

We're the working nurses. Like the paramedics, we're there 24-7, taking care of the sick.

Canada's nurses believe that the language in Bill C-321 complements the existing protections and Criminal Code changes outlined in Bill C-3, which is now two years old. I'll get to that soon.

The Criminal Code changes found in Bill C-3 aimed to ensure better safeguards for health care workers, including nurses. Now Bill C-321 proposes expanding the language to include first responders. We welcome this proposed change to the Criminal Code. We recognize that violence against any health worker or first responder when they are performing their duties is an aggravating factor to sentences.

The facts are shocking. You heard Elizabeth talk about the paramedic field. In 2023, a pan-Canadian survey of nurses was done. Two-thirds reported incidents of physical assaults over the past year and 40% of those nurses reported physical abuse more than once a month while engaged in their duties.

All workers deserve a workplace free of violence and abuse. It should not be tolerated. Sadly, nurses and health care workers experience it routinely. We have to look at these. We have to bring in new measures, such as changing the Criminal Code, but we will also talk about prevention modes.

Many people in Canada are aware that public safety personnel—peace officers, police officers, firefighters and corrections officers—have high-risk jobs and often face violence. Most would be surprised that the same ratios exist in the health care field. Our health care facilities and our health care system are not safe places to work.

In addition to physical injury, workplace violence is strongly correlated with negative impacts on workers' mental health and has been seen as an issue facing nurses for many years. Exposure to violence predicts negative mental health outcomes, including PTSD. From our survey of working nurses, three in four, or 78.5%, report symptoms of burnout. Similar data is seen with public safety personnel.

A similar study was done by CFNU in 2019. Nearly one in four nurses screened positive for PTSD symptoms. MP Doherty will remember all the work we did in 2019 on a federal framework on PTSD, which included health care workers, such as nurses and paramedics.

Sadly, violence and abuse are normal in the health care system. Such a high rate of violence would be unthinkable in any other profession. It needs to be stopped. The health care risks are often accepted.

The House of Commons committee on health, HESA, tackled the challenge of rampant violence against nurses for the first time in a 2019 study. Bill C-3 came out of this and came into law in 2021, as one of HESA's recommendations. Bill C-321 will expand these protections.

Nurses are in solidarity with paramedics on this, but we need to go further than this. We need to be clear that this is not enough. We have to make the public and lawmakers aware of the changes in the Criminal Code and work on better protection for our health care workforce in order to work safely in our health care facilities and in our community. Thank you so much.

While we're encouraged by all this work, we know that many more recommendations of the HESA committee have to be done there.

We support this piece of legislation, but we encourage all MPs and all committees to look further to make our health care and our community safer for those who take care of the sick and the injured in their work.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll answer your questions.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

Welcome back, colleagues, for our second panel. We will now resume.

In our second hour, we are proceeding with our study on Bill C-321.

We welcome, as an individual, Elizabeth Donnelly, associate professor, school of social work, University of Windsor, who is joining us by video conference; Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions; and Danette Thomsen, British Columbia regional council member, northeast region, British Columbia Nurses' Union, also joining us by video conference.

We will start with six minutes each.

Mr. Brock, are you on the list?

Oh, I'm sorry; before that, you each have five minutes for your opening remarks. After that, we will commence with questions.

I will ask Madam Donnelly to please proceed.

[The Chair, Liberal, Lena Metlege Diab]

I call the meeting to order.

I'd like to issue two reminders.

Before I do that, let me read the standard procedure.

Welcome to meeting number 84 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the House on June 21, 2023, the committee is continuing its study of Bill C-40, an act to amend the Criminal Code, to make consequential amendments to other acts and to repeal a regulation.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of June 23, 2022. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application.

I can confirm that all tests were performed for witnesses joining us online.

I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and members who are online.

Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mike. Please mute yourself when you are not speaking.

I do want to let you know that I have two cards here. This one says “30 seconds” and this one says “time is up”. I will be as discreet as possible, but in order to follow the timing requirements, I will interrupt witnesses or members if I need to. All comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

Last, please let the operators open and close your microphones. That's a new procedure. I think they must have had some issues for other committees, although certainly not this one. With many microphones on, the resulting return of sound could hurt our interpreters.

The tests have been successfully performed.

Before we begin the first hour, I'd like to discuss the following points.

I have just two housekeeping items.

First, I'm requesting that we adopt a motion that I will be asking somebody to move. The motion is on the deadline on amendments for Bill C-321, as follows:

That, in relation to the Clause-by-Clause study of Bill C-321, on Thursday, November 30, 2023, the deadline to submit amendments be Tuesday, November 28, 2023, at noon.

Can I please have someone move that motion?

The date is November 28th and the meeting will be held at noon, because the clause‑by‑clause study is November 30. We've already confirmed the dates and they're in the calendar.

I've also been asked to point out a couple of things on that.

I would like to insist on reminding members that all amendments and subamendments on Bill C-321 must be submitted in writing and sent to the committee clerk. Please do not send drafting instructions to the legislative clerks, as they are not the ones who drafts amendments. They must be sent to the legislative counsel.

I'm now looking for somebody to move what I'm asking to be moved.

Madame Brière, thank you.

Does anyone have any objection to that?

Okay. It is so moved.

(Motion agreed to)

The next item is one that you would have received by email earlier today from Mr. Clerk. There are two budgetary items, one on Bill C-321 and one on Bill C-40.

I am requesting that someone move that the proposed budget in the amount of $16,500 for the study of Bill C-321 and the proposed budget in the amount of $19,700 for the study of Bill C-40 be adopted.

Thank you so much, Mr. Moore.

Are there any objections?

(Motion agreed to)

Thank you.

We will now commence with our first study on Bill C-321.

Today, we are welcoming—

I'm sorry. It's Bill C-40.

So today we are welcoming Mr. Simon Roy, Vice-Dean and Full Professor, University of Sherbrooke, Faculty of Law, appearing as an individual.

Welcome, Mr. Roy.

We also have, by teleconference, two witnesses: Mr. John Curtis, counsel, United Kingdom Criminal Cases Review Commission, and Jessyca Greenwood, executive member, Criminal Lawyers' Association.

Members, we will commence now with the first round of witnesses. You will each have six minutes for questions, please.

Before we do that, each of our witnesses has five minutes for opening remarks.

Mr. Roy, you have the floor.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I have a simple question for the witnesses.

I talked about this with Mr. Doherty earlier. Bill C‑321 would require courts hearing these cases to consider as an aggravating circumstance the fact that the person assaulted was a paramedic or doctor, say.

The wording in the bill is “shall consider”, and that makes me wonder about some things. There are times when it's important to really consider the context. The example I gave earlier was of a doctor trying to deliver medical care to a patient at the hospital. The person is in pain and screams that they're going to rip the doctor's hands off if the doctor keeps touching them. That's not what you would call a real threat, necessarily.

I appreciate that you're not a legal expert, but as a paramedic, you have experience dealing with people in emergencies. You or your co‑workers have probably had to appear in court after being assaulted or threatened. That makes you somewhat of an expert, in my eyes.

Do you think the bill would still be helpful if it said that the court “may consider as an aggravating circumstance”, instead of “shall consider”?

That way, the judge would have the discretion to determine whether it should be considered as an aggravating circumstance in a particular case.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Okay.

What we're studying here today is Bill C-321, a private member's bill from our colleague Mr. Doherty. It would make assaulting a health care worker an aggravating circumstance in sentencing. With this additional data, what difference will that make in sentencing? What we're really after is to keep our health care workers safer through law enforcement.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

The idea behind Bill C‑321 is that these situations would lead to harsher sentences or have to be considered an aggravating circumstance. However, the bill would not do anything to change the degree or threshold of proof required in cases involving assaults or threats. How will the provision in Bill C‑321 help you? What will change for you, your members and your co‑workers if the bill is passed?

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

I found it very troubling—and my fellow members would no doubt agree—when you said that a good many assaults against first responders simply go unreported. Would the passage of Bill C‑321 make a difference on that front, or are there other things we can do as well?

For example, do you feel as though you have adequate physical protection when you respond to a situation? First, is there additional equipment you should have? Second, do your superiors encourage you to report incidents? You said that there wasn't too much paperwork, but isn't there anything that could be improved on that end?

Do you think stiffer sentencing for those convicted of assaulting health care professionals or paramedics is enough to make a difference?

[Paul Hills, President of the Saskatoon Paramedics Association, International Association of Fire Fighters]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, committee, and fellow witnesses. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to discuss Bill C-321. As stated before, I am Paul Hills, president of the Saskatoon Paramedics Association. I represent IAFF Local 3270.

On behalf of over 27,000 paramedics and firefighters across Canada who belong to the IAFF, we strongly support Bill C-321. I personally have been coming to the Hill and advocating on this issue for over a decade. I've been a medic for over 25 years and a strong advocate for my profession for over 18. I serve one of the busiest cities per capita in Canada for EMS. I'm here personally because I have been a victim of violence and witnessed external acts of violence in the workplace.

I'll give you just a quick snapshot of what a shift look like for a paramedic. We normally start our 12-hour shift with a team briefing. We check our trucks and then it's go, go, go. We rarely have any breaks. That means no breakfast, no lunch and no supper as compared with the average worker, not to mention all while experiencing some of the most horrific and heart-wrenching situations that exist in society—incidents involving children being stabbed by their parents, or families tragically dying in motor vehicle collisions.

The IAFF supports this bill because we believe that this legislation and the tougher penalties it proposes will build a strong foundation to address the growing trend of violence towards first responders and health care workers across Canada. The Criminal Code rightly addresses acts of violence against peace officers. This is now an opportunity to address acts of violence against paramedics and firefighters, almost a daily occurrence.

As a paramedic, I've seen many new pieces of safety equipment added to our ensemble over the years. The one piece of equipment coming out of school that I never thought I would be issued is that of a bulletproof vest. We've been wearing them in Saskatoon for over 15 years. This is not a piece of equipment that I as a paramedic should be issued. Last I checked, it's for military and police officers, not frontline health care workers.

An IAFF survey has shown that 13% of departments experienced at least one act of violence toward on-duty personnel at structure fires in the past five years, while 40% reported acts of violence toward personnel during medical calls in that same time period. I know first-hand that violence and threats against us are on the rise. There is no shortage of examples.

Personally, I've had my life and those of my family threatened by gang members. I've had machetes and knives pulled on me. I've removed guns from patients while attending to their medical needs. My best friend was in a house and had a patient with a nine-millimetre beside him in the chair. He had to choose: Possibly get shot in the face and have a chance to fight back, or run away and get shot in the back. Luckily, things turned out safely.

In Toronto just two weeks ago, a firefighter attempting to put out a fire in an encampment was attacked with a six-foot piece of PVC piping and hit in the face for no reason whatsoever.

In British Columbia, interactions with overdose patients have become violent or aggressive once we've rendered medical care to save their lives.

In Winnipeg, a firefighter got stabbed in the back while attending to a patient on a sidewalk.

I could spend the rest of the hour sharing real-life events—my partner here could as well—of violent acts or near misses, but the takeaway is that it's real. It's happening right now.

We must acknowledge that the consequences of violent calls aren't just physical injuries. There may be long-lasting mental health injuries. In Montreal, for example, a Local 125 member was chased by a man with a large knife. He had to barricade himself in a room. Although he was not physically injured, he was never able to return to work after 10 years of disability.

The IAFF understands and supports the overarching need to address root causes behind violent acts towards paramedics, firefighters and health care workers. These may stem from societal issues, such as economic inequality, addictions and mental health. In the meantime, we agree that there is a role for the federal government to play in protecting paramedics and firefighters and health care workers from the real threat of workplace violence in the form of tougher Criminal Code penalties.

To me, it isn't just about accountability for those who perpetrate violence against us or other health care workers. To me, it's about closure for the victim. The closure comes from a recognition of decision-makers that we deserve better by caring for those who care for all of us in our time of need. We need to use all the tools in the tool box, as we've discussed, whether it be Bill C-3, Bill C-321 or Bill C-324, to help deter the violence and help the helpers.

Bill C-321 will definitely help in this mission. We urge the committee members to support this bill going forward, with any amendments that are necessary.

Thank you for this opportunity. I look forward to answering any questions.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Garrison. It's good to see you.

I wish I knew. I wish I had a crystal ball. I wish I had the answers.

My daughter is a psychiatric nurse—and I'm going to get emotional doing this. You guys all know me to be a big baby. She was involved in a bad car accident two days ago. She's a mobile care nurse, and so she goes to where her patients are. This patient was in a tent city on the side of a highway. Once she finished administering treatment, she had to cross the highway to get back to her office. She was broadsided by a semi-truck.

I was never concerned or worried about my daughter going to and from work. I was concerned about my daughter at work when she told me she was going to become a psychiatric nurse. I was concerned when she would show up...and she's just a tiny person. She definitely didn't get my genetics. She is good looking though. That is the very real thing that we live with now each and every day, and not just our family but every family.

He knows. He has the kleenex box. Thanks.

But that's the reality of the families who have loved ones who are first responders or nurses or health care providers.

Mr. Garrison, to answer your question, I don't know what has caused the rising rates of violence in society as a whole. I have so much colourful language that I'd like to use. We've just gone bonkers. It used to be you would see somebody with a uniform and you thanked them for their service. How do these...? I don't even know. I'm asking our committee.

Why would anybody want to do that? These are honourable professions, but why would you want to put yourself in the line of fire, so to speak, each and every day? But they do. They sign up so they can help and heal and make sure our communities are safe and secure. Instead they worry about their life each and every day. They worry about whether they will be able to come home safe and sound or at all.

I wish we didn't need Bill C-321 or Bill C-3 or Bill C-345, but the reality is we do. The reality is we need to send a strong message to society that we value the work these individuals and the nurses and the doctors and the people who are on the front lines put in each and every day. Violence is never okay.

I probably ate all your time. I'm sorry.

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Bill C‑321 would add new section 269.02 to the Criminal Code. Section 269.01 refers to public transit operators, and subsection 269.01(2) lists the applicable definitions. Do you think Bill C‑321 should include definitions as well?

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Our bill complements that very clearly. I believe that's from Bill C-3. Our bill, and Bill C-3 and Bill C-345—I believe by our colleague in the NDP—are all bills that complement each other. There isn't just one tool in the tool box that legislators or our legal society need.

Our bill doesn't.... The victim is not doing a job at that time, but the bill recognizes that the act of violence is against a nurse or a paramedic. What if they're off duty? What if they are still wearing their uniform and are coming from work, travelling on transit or going to their car? Can it be said that they are performing their duties at that time? We have witnesses right now who are wearing their uniforms. What if they're walking down the street and there's an act of violence perpetuated against them?

The fact of the matter is that Bill C-321 covers the fact that that victim is either a health care worker or a frontline first responder and that they are protected. It sends a clear message.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

If I might, before my time starts, I would like to first offer our colleague, Mr. Housefather, condolences. I overheard his sound test, and if I heard him correctly, he has just come back from attending a funeral of a constituent who lost her life in the original Hamas attack on October 7. Through you, Mr. Chair, I'd like to offer my condolences to him.

I also would like to send my heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the victims of the horrible mass shooting that took place in Lewiston, Maine, as well as the first responders—hundreds of first responders who attended and witnessed horrible events, who are out searching for the shooter. Some of them I know personally, as I was just informed prior to this testimony.

Also, Mr. Chair, through you, I would like to offer to my colleagues—I know we are starting late—that we have witnesses with lived experiences, and the reality is that we're here to hear them, not me. If any testimony is to be cut short because we are starting late, if there is any time to be cut short, I wish it to be mine, so that we give our witnesses the full hour for you to hear truly why this bill is so important.

I'll leave that with you and the committee, Mr. Chair, and with that, I'll start.

Mr. Chair and committee members, guests and fellow witnesses, I want to thank you for the invitation to speak to my private member's bill, Bill C-321.

You've probably all heard me say this before, but it bears repeating today. In my mind, real heroes don't wear capes. They wear arm patches that say "paramedic", "nurse", "firefighter", "police officer", "corrections". They're our brothers, our sisters, daughters, families, family friends and neighbours. They leave their houses each and every day knowing there is a very real possibility that they may never come home.

When others run from danger, they run towards it. They run into burning buildings, they run towards gunfire. They have our backs at our most desperate moments. They hold our hand when we take our last breath. They're on the other end of the line when we mutter our last words. They're on the front lines taking care of us, making sure that we get the help we need when we need it.

Often, their service comes at great sacrifice to themselves. They are true heroes, in every sense of the word, and they need to know that we have their backs.

How far we have fallen where it has become okay to hunt police officers or paramedics, to hurt a nurse when they're simply trying to take our blood.

Mr. Chair and colleagues, in the last year alone, we've lost 11 police officers, 11 brave men and women who were only trying to do their jobs, who were there to serve and protect us. They gave their lives in service to each of us.

The police have their own section of the Criminal Code that deals with assaults and makes it an aggravating factor for sentencing. It is the same code as for transit operators. But sadly, paramedics, nurses, firefighters, frontline health care workers, don't have the same protections. They deserve the same protections. Firefighters, first responders, do not have the right to refuse dangerous work.

Mr. Chair, there have been a number of studies that have shown an increase in the types of incidents of violence against our health care workers. The Canadian federation of nurses' discussion paper, “Enough is Enough Putting a Stop to Violence in the Health Care Sector”, clearly lays out the need for legislation such as this.

The number of violence-related loss claims for frontline health care workers has increased by almost 66% over the past decade. Two-thirds of nurses report considering or wanting to leave their jobs due to the threat of violence they face each and every day.

I recently visited a hospital and had a supervisor come to my side in tears to thank me for putting this bill forward. She told me the story of a nurse in her charge who was recently thrown to the floor and kicked by a patient.

This bill was born out of the countless stories that I, and well all, have heard. Far too often, violent attacks against paramedics, nurses and firefighters go unreported. They go unpunished. How many times do these incidents go unreported? How many times does someone say to themselves, “It's not that big of a deal, it's not worth reporting, it won't matter anyway”?

We need to stop the complacency. We need to stop violence in the workplace. We need people to know that it's never acceptable and it's not part of their job.

Some time ago I received a message from a paramedic who was simply responding to, by all accounts, a routine 911 call. When they tried to help, they were thrown down a flight of stairs. They were viciously stomped. Their ankles were broken and their arms were broken.

There's the story about the Ottawa paramedic who was punched in the stomach so hard that it left an open wound, and also kicked in the groin when trying to lift a patient off the floor.

Julie was sexually assaulted in the back of an ambulance, and then told it wasn't worth prosecuting because the assailant would never get convicted or, if they were, it would be a slap on the wrist.

What about the Saskatoon paramedic who was punched in the face with a closed fist and suffered a concussion and was encouraged to drop the charges because his assailant was going to anger management classes?

What about Jennifer? She is a paramedic who was attacked on New Year's Eve by an intoxicated man as she tried to help him onto a stretcher outside of a bar and was then told that the Crown was dropping the charges because her injuries weren't sufficient for a conviction. What message does that send to our frontline personnel?

Alex was attempting to help an intoxicated teenage female in the back of an ambulance who then broke free from restraints and heel-kicked him in the face before punching him repeatedly.

Crystal is a nurse who was walking down a corridor when a patient being pushed in a wheelchair from the opposite direction lunged from the chair and attacked her without warning.

These are just a few of the stories that have touched my life. These stories are why this bill needs to pass.

I know that my bill is not the be-all and end-all, but it's another tool in the box and it forces the justice system to look seriously at these crimes. Simply put, Mr. Chair, Bill C-321 would act as a deterrent and save lives. The bill has brought support from many first responders.

I'm proud to say that the IAFF is here. We have members from the Peel Regional Paramedic Services. As a matter of fact, we have representation from the IAFF from Washington, DC. That's why this bill is so important.

Mr. Chair, I'll cede the floor.

I'm ready for any questions you may have.

[The Vice-Chair (Mr. Rhéal Éloi Fortin (Rivière-du-Nord, BQ)), Bloc, Rhéal Fortin]

I call this meeting to order.

Good afternoon everyone.

Welcome to meeting number 80 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.

You're all in luck today to have a member of the Bloc Québécois chairing the meeting.

Pursuant to the House order of June 21, 2023, the committee is meeting to begin its study of Bill C‑321, an act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against health care professionals and first responders).

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of June 23, 2022. Members participating remotely must use the Zoom application.

I have a few reminders for the benefit of the witnesses and members. Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. If you are participating by video conference, please click on the microphone icon to activate your mike and put yourself on mute when you are not speaking.

If you are on Zoom, you can access the interpretation by clicking the button on your screen. You have the choice of floor, English or French. For those in the room, you can use the earpiece and select the desired channel.

A reminder that all comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the raise hand function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can, and we appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.

The clerk has advised me that the three members on Zoom have successfully completed the sound checks, so Mr. Garrison, Mr. Moore and Mr. Housefather. However, if there are any issues with the audio, please let me know and I will suspend the meeting so we can get them fixed.

I would now like to welcome Mr. Doherty, the member for Cariboo—Prince George and sponsor of Bill C‑321. He will be with us for the first hour of our meeting.

Mr. Doherty, you will have five minutes for opening remarks, and then, we will go to the first round. Each party will have six minutes in the first round. In the second round, the Conservatives and Liberals will have five minutes each, and the Bloc Québécois and NDP will have two and a half minutes each. After that, we will meet with another panel for the second hour.

Mr. Doherty, please go ahead.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you to our witnesses for being here today.

Ms. Richard, my sister Jill would be proud today. She's an operating room nurse in my riding in eastern Ontario. She served in emergency before and also in a long-term care setting, so she's had experience on the front lines from different perspectives and certainly shares a lot of the comments that you've made, particularly about the mental health of nurses and the sustainability of the work and the pace at which they do it. I don't envy it at all.

I want to elaborate on a couple of points from your opening testimony. I appreciated the reference to working to reduce workplace violence in health care. Our Conservative colleague, Todd Doherty, from Cariboo—Prince George in B.C., has a private member's bill, Bill C-321, to make assaults against frontline health care workers an aggravating factor when considering sentencing.

You mentioned about working to reduce violence, and you mentioned some of the initiatives. From a budgetary perspective, not only is that piece of legislation important.... For example, we tried to get that passed through unanimous consent, based on that 2019 health committee recommendation, and couldn't. However, when we talk about the awareness in and around that, what do you envision from the union's perspective of what's needed—not only in the law to do that, but also in terms of whether it's internal or what we could do at a national level to help reduce workplace violence?