Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the privilege of introducing my first private member's bill, Bill C-637, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (public transit operators), also known as Bregg's law. If passed, this legislation would amend the Criminal Code to make the fact that a public transit operator was the victim of an assault an aggravating circumstance for the purposes of sentencing.
Almost 40% of Canadian transit workers have reported that they have been physically assaulted over the course of their career. Attacks range from a push or a shove to spitting, verbal assaults, or sometimes a serious aggravated assault. These types of assaults endanger not only the life and safety of the public transit operator, but also the lives and safety of passengers and anybody who happens to be in the vehicle's vicinity. Accordingly, this legislation would give added protected to public transit operators, the passengers they serve and the public generally.
The bill would be known as Bregg's law, in honour of one of my constituents, Mr. Tom Bregg, an Edmonton transit bus driver who was the victim of a violent attack resulting in serious permanent injuries. I would like to thank Mr. Bregg for his courage in sharing his story, which serves as the inspiration for the Public Transit Operators Protection Act. I would ask all hon. members to support private member's Bill C-637.