Justice committee  I think it's also the facilities themselves. We have mental health patients being placed sometimes for days on stretchers underneath busy ER counters with the lights on. We don't even have enough beds or enough staff. We have mental health patients who are being held longer than

Justice committee  I agree, Linda. Let's have a big campaign and promote the realization that violence to our nurses in this country will not be tolerated by the Government of Canada. Those are the types of things we need to see. I think it is enhancing this. I'm so glad to see our paramedics, our

Justice committee  It's definitely increasing, but it was a problem long before COVID. I think that since COVID, we've all seen changes in society that none of us really know.... We all have our theories of what's causing them, but honestly, the health care system is so stretched. The wait times,

Justice committee  Those support services in B.C. are so overused that sometimes it's taking our members six weeks to get help after they have witnessed a violent incident. We're pushing for critical-incident stress debriefing and all those things that the employer is supposed to be providing, but

Justice committee  Yes, that is so true. I'm going to say that around that table, they're desperate. They're desperate for help. Our nurses are out there and they are giving all they can. They're working sometimes in unthinkable circumstances, but they're there because they care. They're there beca

Justice committee  Stats Canada's most recent data showed that by the end of the third quarter of 2023, there were 5,825 nurse vacancies in B.C. That's an increase from 5,300 last year. That in itself, the fact that we're at 5,825 nurses.... I'm telling you, you can just look at our rates of casu

Justice committee  I'd like to answer that.

Justice committee  We've had some good work happening here in B.C. Recently, the Ministry of Health announced that we have 26 relational security officers hired. It's just a new project. We know that there are going to be glitches, but these are security officers who are trained and who will be wor

Justice committee  I agree with Linda that we need to actually show value to the people who are caring for our members out there and for the public. We need to tell them and to show them that this is not okay and that we don't expect them to go to work and be beat up every day.

Justice committee  Good afternoon. I'd like to acknowledge that I personally live on the unceded territories of the Lheidli T'enneh, where MP Doherty is from. Today I join you from the lands of the Coast Salish peoples—the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh. It is an absolute privilege to be