Health Committee on June 15th, 2016

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

I think that's reasonable, to hear from the one witness. It's a three paragraph bill, and I think we know where the sensitive areas and weaknesses are.

I'm going to be moving some amendments for the committee to consider, but we can certainly deal with them, yes or no, on Monday.

I think we should be realistic, though. This bill will not be coming out of this Parliament in June. This is going to come out of committee, and we're going to be breaking for the summer soon. I don't know how much haste is going to really make a difference at the end of the day, but I'm happy to deal with this witness and clause-by-clause consideration on Monday, if that's what the majority decides.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

When could you submit your amendments?

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

I don't think I have to submit them. I can move them from the floor, I believe, at the meeting. That's what I would do. I'll endeavour to get them drafted. If I get them drafted in advance and translated, I'll send them around. I think you can tell by my questions where I think the bill can be improved.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

Are there any other comments or questions?

Mr. Kang.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Chair, I think we have heard enough evidence on this bill. It's going to save lives. I think we should be able to wrap it up on Monday with clause-by-clause study.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

All right.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

There's compelling evidence.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

Ms. Harder.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

It certainly does concern me that this entire bill has been produced without hearing from front-line workers. That seems like a glaring omission when it comes to the drafting of this legislation. I would like to hear from front-line workers.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

Do we have a motion, then?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Were you a policeman?

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

I was an emergency physician for 17 years.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

When we say “front-line workers”, I think that may mean different things to different people. I think in Ms. Harder's mind that means police. To me, it means paramedics and police.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

I think it means both.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Yes, I think it's both. It's police. It's ambulance attendants. It's paramedics. It may be emergency room doctors. It may be social workers. If we want to hear from front-line workers, then—

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Were you involved on this bill?

[Doug Eyolfson, Liberal, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Yes, I actually was.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

I'm sorry. I have the floor, I think.

If what Ms. Harder wants is to hear from police, then she should say, “Let's hear from police.” If it's front-line workers, then we should discuss what we mean by that. I don't think it's a bad idea to hear from police or other front-line workers, but we need to decide who we want to hear from, if that's the case.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

We have a motion on the floor, though, to go to clause-by-clause on Monday. That's the motion.

Mr. Ayoub.

[Ramez Ayoub, Liberal, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

I did ask Ron for the list of people he consulted, and he said he has that on the website. We don't have the witnesses, but the list is there, so we can consult the list. Maybe you'll find your answer there.

I agree that we have almost all the answers, though. There is no bill that is perfect, but that bill should address the first purpose it was addressing. Going to clause-by-clause study on Monday is fine with me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

Mr. Kang.

[Darshan Singh Kang, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

I think it's a good start.

Where do we draw the line on front-line workers? We don't have the firefighters in there. They go whenever there's an emergency. They're there, too. We could say let's go to the emergency department in the hospitals and consult those people.

I think we should specify who we would consult.

[John Oliver, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Do you guys mind if I take a turn?

The front-line workers issue is a 911 response, and you're asking a first responder question, Rachael. Why does that matter?

We're trying to save lives and we're trying to give confidence to people in the room before the first responders arrive, to make a phone call to 911 to trigger first responders. However, I'm not sure what we would gain or learn from them. The goal here is to get them to respond so they can begin to initiate treatment.

I don't know that the language of the bill would change with input from first responders in a 911 call.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bill Casey]

The bells are ringing. I need unanimous consent to carry on. Do I have unanimous consent to carry on or do you want to vote? I think it's 30-minute bell, but I'm not sure. Do I have unanimous consent to carry on or does anybody oppose this?

Mr. Davies.