Thank you for the question.
One thing that is specifically new in the bill is the offence of intimidating a health care provider or a person seeking access to a health service by making this a new offence. The penalty has been elevated. There is an offence of intimidation in the Criminal Code already that would cover this behaviour. It currently has a maximum penalty of five years, so creating a new offence is coupled with an increase in the maximum penalty for this offence. This recognizes the harms to those threatened, to the health care system and to those who may be unable to obtain services as a result of acts of intimidation directed at health professionals.
Other than that, the creation of this new offence as well as a new offence for obstructing access, in addition to the other measures in the bill, is the creation of two aggravating factors on sentencing that go beyond what is presently recognized by the courts under the common law for recognizing the gravity of offences when punishing offenders. Those are several new measures that are in the legislation.