Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise to speak to Bill S-233. However, before I begin my speech, I want to draw attention to this tartan I am wearing, which is is certified and registered in Scotland. It was made by two weavers in my riding who are members of the Guilde des Tisserands du Suroît. They wove this tartan and gifted it to me in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the City of Salaberry-de-Valleyfield. When I received it, I promised them that I would honour their work of art by sharing it with all my colleagues in the House of Commons, as I am doing now. I would like to thank Johanne and Pierrette, who are truly incredible weavers. I am so proud, I must say, to show off this tartan to everyone here in the House.
I understand that we are debating a bill that we have already debated in the House, but it had a different number at the time. That bill that made it through all the legislative stages, but unfortunately died on the Order Paper because of prorogation. We already know that the bill enjoyed broad consensus in the House and in the Senate.
It is a shame, because I was listening to the speech by the member for Winnipeg North and I got the impression that Bill S-233 was being used as a bargaining chip to punish the Conservatives for not co-operating on other bills. I find that completely unfair, because it is a privilege to be randomly selected to introduce a private member's bill. I find it deeply unfair for it to be treated this way.
The Bloc Québécois agreed to fast-track Bill S-233 so that it could be passed quickly. It is unfortunate that the Liberals did not give their support to allow the bill to be passed quickly.
It all started with recommendation 3 of a report from the Standing Committee on Health. It stated that the Criminal Code should be amended to require a court to consider as an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes the fact that the victim is a health care professional. This is a small amendment to the Criminal Code, but it is highly important considering who it is meant for.
Right now, a number of sections guide judges in terms of aggravating factors. I am referring here to assault, assault with a weapon or causing bodily harm, aggravated assault and causing bodily harm. However, there is no specific offence that states that an attack on a health care professional or a first responder constitutes an aggravating factor for the purposes of sentencing. That is what the bill does. It is a matter of clarifying this issue.
I heard the member for Winnipeg North say that this is not just a federal matter, that first responders and health care professionals are experiencing violence, and that there is also shared jurisdiction between the provinces and the federal government. I would say to him that the federal government does indeed have the means to give more to the provinces in its health transfers so that the health care sector has the tools to deal with this surge in violence and assaults on health care workers and first responders.
I often say this, but I am a social worker and manager at the Montérégie‑Ouest integrated health and social services centre. I can say that I have seen very serious situations. I will describe some of these situations because I think it is important to understand how important this bill is, as well as how important it is to prevent violence against health care professionals and first responders.
There are things that I never saw in my practice until very recently. I was re-elected six years ago. Before that, I was a manager. I managed seniors' residences. Seniors are staying in residences longer now, and they often struggle with dementia, and the fact is that dementia, especially frontal lobe dementia, often leads to aggressive and violent behaviour directed at health care workers.
I had to deal with situations where a Garda company security guard had to be hired to protect health care workers from being attacked or assaulted by residents. These incidents were not necessarily premeditated, but a consequence illness.
When it gets to the point where taxpayer dollars need to be spent on hiring guards to protect staff members from being hit, kicked, bitten, pushed or injured, a lot of tax dollars get spent on staff security. I think that managers sometimes agonize over the need to do more with less and sometimes feel compelled to cut back on these guards' hours, for example, just to balance their budget.
The member for Winnipeg North said that the provinces need to take responsibility. I cannot help but respond to that by saying that the primary responsibility lies with those who have too much money and who spend it in areas that fall under Quebec's jurisdiction, those who do not do what it takes to give the provinces the means to also look after their health care professionals and first responders.
Like the member for Cariboo—Prince George, I have witnessed all sorts of situations. Police officers and firefighters are now often accompanied by social workers who can help calm down angry individuals or individuals with mental health issues who are in crisis and behaving very violently toward the first responder. Practices are changing and health care professionals are being hired to support first responders, but that costs money.
Of course, the bill does add the aggravating factor, and we agree with that, but we must not forget the main point. We also need to support health care professionals upstream and support first responders when they intervene on the ground. However, there are only so many ways to do that. This can be done by adding specialized crisis intervention personnel trained to deal with someone who is displaying completely disordered behaviour, for example. It could be someone who is intoxicated and wants to attack an ambulance attendant, firefighter or even a police officer, for example, who arrives at a scene where they must intervene.
There is a reason why, in Montreal, for example, police officers are often accompanied by a social worker or specialized educator when they respond to situations involving domestic violence, disordered behaviour or mental health issues, in order to help defuse the crisis. It is precisely to avoid aggression and injury to first responders.
It absolutely boggles my mind that facts like those are not enough to convince the government to provide Quebec and the provinces with better service delivery support. As we know, health and social services consume a large portion of the budgets of Quebec and the provinces. This stubborn refusal to increase the health transfer is causing considerable harm to health care professionals and first responders, not to mention the people who require the services and assistance of skilled professionals.
In closing, I want to thank the member for Cariboo—Prince George for his determination, and I encourage him to pursue his discussions with the government in order to convince the Liberals to reverse their decision and allow a shorter legislative process for passing Bill S-233.