Todd Doherty Conservative
Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)
Third reading (Senate), as of Dec. 10, 2024
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This is from the published bill.
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.
All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.
Bill numbers are reused for different bills each new session. Perhaps you were looking for one of these other C-321s:
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-321, an act to amend the Criminal Code (assaults against health care professionals and first responders).
Mr. Speaker, I am heartened to see that the Minister of Public Safety is in the House to hear the first reading of this—
Criminal CodeRoutine Proceedings
The Speaker Anthony Rota
I just want to remind hon. members that they cannot refer to the presence of other members in the House. I just thought I would mention that.
Todd Doherty Conservative Cariboo—Prince George, BC
Mr. Speaker, I am heartened that the Minister of Public Safety is paying attention.
I am truly honoured and humbled to rise in the House to introduce this bill.
I thank my hon. friend and colleague from Chilliwack—Hope for seconding the bill.
Simply put, my bill will amend the Criminal Code to make assaults against health care workers an aggravating factor during sentencing.
If we have learned anything over the last couple of years, it is that true heroes do not wear capes. They wear shoulder flashes and badges that state they are a nurse, a paramedic, a firefighter, an EMT, an ambulance attendant or a mental health care worker. These are the people who keep our communities healthy and safe. They put our health and safety above and before their own. They are the ones who provide us with comfort and care in our time of need. They are our shelter in a storm. They bandage our cuts, mend our wounds and hold our hands when we draw our last breaths.
Unfortunately, our frontline heroes are facing unprecedented and growing rates of violence. They are being assaulted, belittled and are forced to confront a growing epidemic of violence against them. The statistics are alarming. Simply put, their workplaces are not safe: 61% of nurses reported a serious problem with violence over a recent 12-month period; two-thirds feared for their lives and considered leaving their jobs as a result; nearly half of all nurses, 46%, reported exposure to physical assault 11 or more times; and 84% of pre-hospital paramedic and firefighters globally experienced workplace violence. A recent internal survey by the Peel Region Paramedics Services found that 97.5% of medics experienced verbal abuse, 86% experienced intimidation and 80% were physically assaulted. We are failing them, and this must change.
This is the second time I have had the privilege of introducing this important and vital legislation. I have heard directly from so many frontline personnel about how the status quo is failing them. It is not just a kick when responding to a patient or a punch when changing an IV, but it is a systemic and constant threat of violence that has a ripple effect. It contributes to burnout, compassion fatigue, depression and PTSD.
We should be doing everything in our power to ensure health care professionals and first responders are able to perform their jobs safely and return home to their families. Everyone has the right to a safe, secure and respectful work environment. Violence should never be part of the job description.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)