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.
