Evidence of meeting #35 for Justice and Human Rights in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was nurse.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Executive Director, The Go-Give Project
I suppose this is something that could be considered.
Again, I am not a legal expert, so I really can't speak to that.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
I recognize that you're not a legal expert or a lawyer, but you are still, in my humble view, an important player when it comes to supporting victims of crime. That's why you're here today.
Everyone around the table wants to provide the best possible support to victims, across all parties. I'm wondering if we're making things more complicated for victims. I don't have the answer to that question, and I'd like to hear your views on it.
Wouldn't we be supporting them better by ensuring that the accused's trial takes place quickly and by providing support to organizations, for example through the surcharge program, rather than by making the situation more complex?
Executive Director, The Go-Give Project
A really important piece of Bill C-238 is that it allows judges to order restitution. This is where we start looking at the risk to reward benefit. Maybe it's not ordered in every case, especially for community agencies, or if it doesn't make sense for the victim, because the victim has to always be at the forefront. It does give judges the ability, so the bill is not saying that every time someone, in relation to a drug or human trafficking crime, is from Cristina's or my organization, our agencies will be ordered restitution. That's not what the bill is saying; it's saying that it becomes a possibility.
Then we can start looking at the risk to benefit rewards. We can start looking at what is in the best interests of the victims. Are we now supporting victims throughout the trial, where they might need all of these things? Perhaps they need clothes to attend court. They might need a cellphone to speak with their lawyer. Those types of things are costs that we're going to absorb. Judges will now have an opportunity, if they see fit, to have those costs paid in restitution to the agency. It doesn't become mandatory.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Iqra Khalid
Thank you, Mr. Fortin.
I appreciate that.
We'll now move on to our final five-minute blocks.
Mr. Brock, please go ahead.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I also want to take the opportunity, as my colleague Mr. Lawton did, to publicly congratulate you on your election as chair of this amazing committee, where generally, more often than not, we take a collaborative approach to deal with the pressing, ongoing issues that are concerning to Canadians. This certainly is such an area.
I want to thank the two witnesses for their attendance today and their participation in this study.
We as parliamentarians can walk and chew gum at the same time, and we often do that very well as we navigate a myriad of policies and government bills but, most importantly, private members' bills. The fact is that this is a private member's bill.
At this time, Madam Chair, I'd like to move my motion that I presented and filed on Thursday June 4, 2026. I'm prepared to read it out and to speak to this motion at this time. I move that:
The committee consider Bill S-233, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (assault against persons who provide health services and first responders) on or before Monday, June 15, 2026, provided that the House and Senate sponsors of the bill be invited to testify along with any other witnesses deemed relevant by committee members and that following the testimony, the committee immediately proceed to clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, and the chair only be authorized to adjourn the meeting after clause-by-clause consideration of the bill is completed.
In essence, this is a bill, just like the bill before the committee today, that never ought to be a partisan issue. To reflect the non-partisan aspect of this bill, one needs only to take a look at the history of the bill.
The bill originated in the Senate, and it passed all three levels in the Senate. It moved over to the House of Commons. At second reading, it passed unanimously with every single member of the House of Commons agreeing to swift passage, in essence getting it to the justice committee as soon as possible. There were 332 yeas and zero nays, and there were eight paired members for a total of 332 members participating.
We all believe it's non-partisan. We all believe that greater protections should be afforded to all health care workers and to frontline officers. We also have to reflect upon what we knew long before the pandemic hit, but it was even more pronounced during and following the pandemic, that there is a rising level of violence against our frontline workers.
This, Madam Chair, is extremely personal to me because my spouse is a frontline worker. She is a registered nurse. She's about to celebrate 30 years in her profession. I remember vividly how many times, during the pandemic, because she was an essential service worker at that point, she was abused and ridiculed. She heard sexist remarks being made to her, and she was spat at on numerous occasions. There were too many times to count, but I could see it on her face and I could tell by her demeanor that this wasn't the profession that she signed up for almost 30 years ago.
Where is this violence coming from? Some people thought it was maybe an origin and a by-product of the pandemic and society essentially shutting down, and the anger that people had during that time, but that anger has continued following the end of the pandemic.
What's more concerning—and I have a lot of literature that I'm going to share with this committee right now—is that for every nurse, for every doctor and for every other health care professional or paramedic who actually has the courage to come forward and report this to their supervisor or to the administration of the workplace environment, or ultimately report this to the police, for every one of those individuals, there are dozens of individuals who basically shut up and put up with this abuse.
In my view, that is an absolute shame, because those who study to become a professional, those who wish to become part of the medical profession and those who want to take part in performing first responder duties do that essentially as a call to service. I have a call to service. My spouse has a call to service. We all have calls to service, but those who serve the public should never be expected to carry with them the licence to be abused. That's certainly something that I wasn't taught as a parliamentarian—
Conservative
Andrew Lawton Conservative Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON
I have a point of order.
To my colleague, Mr. Brock, I'm sorry for the interruption here.
I am hoping, Madam Chair, that you could confirm the speaking list—or perhaps direct the clerk to—so that we understand what to expect here.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Iqra Khalid
Yes, absolutely.
After Mr. Brock, we have you, Mr. Lawton, and then Mr. Gill, Ms. Lapointe, Ms. Begum, Ms. Gladu and Ms. Lattanzio.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON
I think I was talking about the licence for abuse.
As parliamentarians, we all take harassment training, but we've all been subjected to irate constituents from time to time. I've dealt with numerous irate constituents from time to time, because I guess we all take the adage that although none of us—and no parliamentarian—can ever say they received 100% confidence from the electorate in any general election, we serve at the will of the electorate. That represents people who voted for us and people who didn't vote for us.
For the nursing profession, the medical profession and first responders, they, too, have that call to serve the public, to care for the public, to heal the public and to respond to emergencies and dangers in the public.
Again, as a prosecutor, I hearken back to those occasions where I prosecuted assault and threatening behaviour directed by the public towards health care professionals. If there were a common theme back then, I would say that the common theme was either acute underlying mental illness or intoxication, where someone is perhaps not thinking as rationally as they should. Those cases I prosecuted always had an underlying element that didn't completely excuse the behaviour, but certainly helped put it into focus as to why that person decided to act out the way they did.
The first thing I want to bring to the attention.... I took a recent meeting not too long ago—I believe it was last week—from the CEO of one of the health care systems in my riding: St. Joseph's Healthcare, out of Hamilton.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Iqra Khalid
My apologies, Mr. Brock. I want to pause for a second.
I see the speakers list and I'm going to check with resources to see how long we can go today. We would love to hear everything you have to say.
Give us 30 seconds while we figure out what our resources look like. We're happy to go to the end of the day today.
Bloc
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Before suspending the meeting, wouldn't it be a good idea to release the witnesses, since we clearly won't be able to continue the discussion?
It's a bit of a shame to keep Ms. Ali here for nothing.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Iqra Khalid
If it's okay with you guys and with the witnesses, I think it's better for us to keep the witnesses here. I'm hoping this matter will be resolved very soon. We just need to make sure that our backup is on point as well.
If it's okay with you, Monsieur Fortin, I'll ask the witnesses to stay.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Iqra Khalid
Thanks very much.
Mr. Brock, as we continue to figure out.... I haven't suspended the meeting.
Conservative
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Iqra Khalid
I was just saying if you want to continue speaking, you can go ahead and do that now, while we're figuring out—
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON
I thought you were waiting for resources.
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON
I misunderstood you.
I was about to read out some articles. The first one is a letter from February 2025 that was jointly signed by the Canadian Nurses Association and the Canadian Medical Association. It reads, “The reprehensible assault of health workers in Halifax last week is a harsh reminder of the dangers health professionals across Canada face while trying to provide quality care to patients.”
On that particular case in Halifax, this is a report from the Halifax police service, dated January 30, 2025. It reads:
Halifax Regional Police has charged a man in relation to a stabbing that occurred yesterday at the QEII in Halifax.
I take it that this in a hospital or a medical setting.
It continues:
At approximately 1 p.m., officers responded to a report of a man with a knife at the hospital. A man who was receiving care at the hospital stabbed two people in the emergency room and injured two others by throwing objects at them.
One victim sustained significant injuries.
At approximately 1:10 p.m., officers located and arrested the man on scene without further incident.
They identified the accused. He was charged with one count of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a weapon, three counts of aggravated assault and two counts of possession of weapon for dangerous purpose.
Going back to the letter, it further reads:
This latest example may be an extreme case, but the sad reality is that doctors, nurses and other health workers are subject to verbal and physical abuse on a daily basis. The results from the Canadian Medical Association’s (CMA) 2021 National Physician Health Survey found that eight in 10 physicians have experienced intimidation, bullying, harassment and/or microaggressions in the workplace at some point in their careers. Four in 10 reported that these experiences happen “frequently” or “often,” with women significantly more likely to say they happen at least once a week.
A recent national review of workplace violence reports highlighted that incidents against nurses have become more severe and frequent in recent years, often resulting in physical and psychological harm. Legally, workplace violence is classified as both a health and safety issue and a criminal offence in Canada. In Alberta, reports of violent incidents in health-care settings surged by 37% between 2019 and 2021.
We also acknowledge that toxic online behaviour increasingly manifests in real life. With influential figures normalizing the use of threats and bullying, it is unsurprising that these behaviours are being echoed in health-care settings. But hospitals, medical clinics and other health-care facilities simply can't tolerate this—people's health and lives are at stake.
In 2021, the federal government responded to calls for help from CMA, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), and the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions with legislation that made it illegal to use threats and bullying to stop a health worker from providing care to patients—
That was, if my colleagues recall, Bill C-3 from the last Parliament.
The letter continues:
It also prohibits actions that would prevent a person from obtaining health services or accessing health facilities.
We urge the public to respect these laws and call on public safety and law enforcement officials to continue their vigilance in enforcing them.
Our thoughts are with the victims of the senseless assaults in Halifax and their families.
I referenced the health care system in Brantford. I met with the CEO and one of his staff members, who echoed what I just read out in my earlier introductory remarks on this motion about the rising levels of violence and the under-reporting. Specifically, they have given their full support for the immediate and swift passage of Bill S-233, an act—
Conservative
Larry Brock Conservative Brantford—Brant South—Six Nations, ON
Yes, I would agree with Mr. Lawton and his “hear, hear!” commentary.
I was speaking about support for an act to amend the Criminal Code regarding assaults against persons who provide health services and first responders. They said that workplace violence in health care is a serious and growing problem for organizations across Canada.
At St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, an academic health sciences centre, four health care workers are assaulted on the job every day. This health care system consists of facilities in Hamilton and also in Brantford. In fact, I was born at the St. Joseph's Hospital. It still stands to this day.
In recent years, racial and sexual assault are among the fastest rising forms of violence. Unlike in other workplaces, health care providers can't refuse service. That's important. How often have we, in our daily lives, gone to either a public establishment or a private establishment, even going through the drive-through—whether that be for fast food, Tim Hortons or Starbucks—and you are inevitably faced with a warning that harassment and verbal abuse will not be tolerated, will not be accepted and will constitute grounds for non-service. That's appropriate, because it's not just health care and frontline workers who are experiencing rising levels of violence.
Liberal
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Iqra Khalid
We have witnesses here. We're doing clause-by-clause for Bill C-238. Your motion is very much registered in our committee. I'm hopeful that we can get through this bill before we start on the next one. We have to finish the first sandwich before we start the next sandwich.
Perhaps we can come to an agreement that we go through with the rest of our witness testimony and go through clause-by-clause on this bill and then pick up the debate. We can sit for as long as you want to debate this.