Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
I want to join others on the committee in thanking Mr. Doherty for bringing this bill forward and drawing attention to what's become a serious problem in our society, and that is the attacks on health care providers and first responders.
I want to go back to something you touched on briefly in your introduction, and that's the question of why we are seeing this increase, this spike in violence. Some have pointed to the effects of the pandemic and some members of the public disagreeing with public health decisions. Others have talked about things like the opioid crisis, with those under the influence of drugs being much more likely to be violent in their response to those attempting to help them. If we think a little bit more about causes, we may be able to think of other ways in which we could help find preventative measures to stop these kinds of attacks.
I wonder whether you could say a little bit more, Mr. Doherty, about why you think this is occurring.