A private member’s bill from a British Columbia MP seeking tougher penalties for people who attack first responders has picked up an important endorsement.
The International Association of Firefighters Canada has penned a letter to Cariboo-Prince George Conservative MP Todd Doherty backing his introduction of bill C-321.
If approved, the bill would amend the Criminal Code of Canada to make assaults against health-care workers and first responders an aggravating factor during sentencing, which could increase the amount of time an offender spends behind bars.
Paramedic Paul Hills, who is president of IFF local 230 Saskatchewan/Saskatoon, said first responders have been pushing for legislation of this type for years, which he believes could act as a deterrent.
“It’s about time. Our jobs shouldn’t be one where we go and expect violence, and if there is, there should be some accountability or recourse to the perpetrator,” he told Global News on Thursday.
“I’m just there to do my job and assist somebody in their time of need; it’s not appropriate that a family member, a bystander or the patient themselves feel it’s OK to assault the person helping them.”
Unions and associations representing first responders across the country have reported what they say is a spike in attacks on people in uniform.
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More than half-a-dozen police officers have been killed on the job in recent months, while firefighters and paramedics have reported disturbing incidents including sexual assaults, attacks with pellet guns and threats with machetes — all while responding to calls.
“Going into these situations 10 to 15 years ago it was a vastly different environment, and today when you go into these environments people are a lot more agitated,” said Gord Ditchburn, president of the B.C. Professional Firefighters’ Association.
“It speaks to what’s going on no matter where you are in this country. A large part of mental health issues that members of our society are struggling with, you’re dealing with the outfall from the drug crisis, you’re dealing with a number of factors that affect the lives of people. And with that comes the ability for people to act out.”
Troy Clifford, president of the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C., said his union had also written in support of Doherty’s bill.
Clifford said more needs to be done to address the rising mental health and drug crises in the country to prevent people from getting into a position where they act out against first responders.
But he said the bill would be a valuable tool to help protect workers amid the current conditions they’re facing.
“We really feel for our patients in that situation, but first and foremost we’re always taught as first responders and paramedics that you are no help to anybody if you can’t get there safely,” Clifford said.
“It is alarming to us, because nobody expects to work and be injured, they want to go home to their families.”
Doherty’s bill was introduced in March and is expected to get a second reading in the coming weeks.
It is exceedingly rare for private members’ bills to make it to the floor for a debate, and even more rare for them to be passed into law.
Hill, however, said he was optimistic lawmakers could come together to approve the measure which he believes will give the justice system the tools it needs to protect first responders.
“For years now the common comment from prosecutors or police is, ‘The injury isn’t severe enough, we’re not going to charge him, or it will go nowhere, it’s no big deal, it’s part of the job.’ Well, the reality is it shouldn’t be part of the job. I as a firefighter or paramedic have to wear a ballistic vest to my job,” he said.
“We’re not looking for people to go to jail for years and years, but they need to understand the next time they’re out in public and they’re being helped by someone, they need to treat them with the level of respect that comes along with that position.”
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