:
I call the meeting to order.
[Translation]
I'd like to issue two reminders.
[English]
Before I do that, let me read the standard procedure.
Welcome to meeting number 84 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Pursuant to the order of reference adopted by the House on June 21, 2023, the committee is continuing its study of Bill , an act to amend the Criminal Code, to make consequential amendments to other acts and to repeal a regulation.
Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format, pursuant to the House order of June 23, 2022. Members are attending in person in the room and remotely by using the Zoom application.
[Translation]
I can confirm that all tests were performed for witnesses joining us online.
[English]
I would like to make a few comments for the benefit of the witnesses and members who are online.
Please wait until I recognize you by name before speaking. For those participating by video conference, click on the microphone icon to activate your mike. Please mute yourself when you are not speaking.
I do want to let you know that I have two cards here. This one says “30 seconds” and this one says “time is up”. I will be as discreet as possible, but in order to follow the timing requirements, I will interrupt witnesses or members if I need to. All comments should be addressed through the chair. For members in the room, if you wish to speak, please raise your hand. For members on Zoom, please use the “raise hand” function. The clerk and I will manage the speaking order as best we can. We appreciate your patience and understanding in this regard.
Last, please let the operators open and close your microphones. That's a new procedure. I think they must have had some issues for other committees, although certainly not this one. With many microphones on, the resulting return of sound could hurt our interpreters.
[Translation]
The tests have been successfully performed.
Before we begin the first hour, I'd like to discuss the following points.
[English]
I have just two housekeeping items.
First, I'm requesting that we adopt a motion that I will be asking somebody to move. The motion is on the deadline on amendments for Bill , as follows:
That, in relation to the Clause-by-Clause study of Bill C-321, on Thursday, November 30, 2023, the deadline to submit amendments be Tuesday, November 28, 2023, at noon.
Can I please have someone move that motion?
[Translation]
The date is November 28th and the meeting will be held at noon, because the clause‑by‑clause study is November 30. We've already confirmed the dates and they're in the calendar.
[English]
I've also been asked to point out a couple of things on that.
I would like to insist on reminding members that all amendments and subamendments on Bill must be submitted in writing and sent to the committee clerk. Please do not send drafting instructions to the legislative clerks, as they are not the ones who drafts amendments. They must be sent to the legislative counsel.
I'm now looking for somebody to move what I'm asking to be moved.
Madame Brière, thank you.
Does anyone have any objection to that?
Okay. It is so moved.
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: The next item is one that you would have received by email earlier today from Mr. Clerk. There are two budgetary items, one on Bill and one on Bill .
I am requesting that someone move that the proposed budget in the amount of $16,500 for the study of Bill and the proposed budget in the amount of $19,700 for the study of Bill be adopted.
Thank you so much, Mr. Moore.
Are there any objections?
(Motion agreed to)
The Chair: Thank you.
We will now commence with our first study on Bill .
[Translation]
Today, we are welcoming—
[English]
I'm sorry. It's Bill .
[Translation]
So today we are welcoming Mr. Simon Roy, Vice-Dean and Full Professor, University of Sherbrooke, Faculty of Law, appearing as an individual.
Welcome, Mr. Roy.
[English]
We also have, by teleconference, two witnesses: Mr. John Curtis, counsel, United Kingdom Criminal Cases Review Commission, and Jessyca Greenwood, executive member, Criminal Lawyers' Association.
Members, we will commence now with the first round of witnesses. You will each have six minutes for questions, please.
Before we do that, each of our witnesses has five minutes for opening remarks.
[Translation]
Mr. Roy, you have the floor.
:
First of all, thank you for inviting me to appear before the committee. It's a welcome opportunity.
Overall, I think this bill is a fine initiative, which draws inspiration from other countries. I had the opportunity to listen to the first two meetings of this study. So there are some things I won't revisit, but I will call your attention to three areas that bear scrutiny.
The first concerns trial by jury. In my opinion, trial by jury is one cause of miscarriage of justice. Several legal scholars, including Mr. Kent Roach, share this view. Indeed, in the case of racialized people, especially indigenous people, it is difficult to find a representative jury.
Moreover, these are very often emotionally charged cases. So when a murder is committed in a small community, it's harder to get a jury trial. It's also quite difficult to appeal a verdict, since the jury isn't required to present its reasons. Why did the jury decide this or that? We don't know. The test for appeal is the unreasonable verdict test. However, there are no written reasons for assessing the reasonableness of the verdict. As a result, there is a potential for miscarriages of justice.
What can we do to address this? I propose amending section 649 of the Criminal Code. According to this section, a jury cannot disclose what transpired during deliberations, except in the case of an investigation for obstruction of justice, a case provided for in subsection 139(2). Bill could allow the new Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission to question jury members about their deliberations if one of the reasons given for the miscarriage of justice was a problem identified in the jury's deliberations.
The second area for scrutiny concerns the investigative powers of the proposed commission. According to your bill, the commission has the powers of the Inquiries Act. It therefore has no power to visit premises. Although this may rarely be applicable, it could prove useful to grant this power to the commission. However, it also has the power to compel witnesses to testify, which may include the applicant, i.e., the convicted person. The person filing the application could therefore be compelled to testify before the commission if it so required. They would not have the right to remain silent in this context.
I'm not saying this is a good or bad thing. I'm just pointing out that it's a possibility right now, under the current wording of the bill. Obviously, the applicant's testimony could not necessarily be used against them in a subsequent trial, because there are constitutional protections. However, the person could be compelled to testify, as could co‑defendants, for example. In a trial, co‑defendants have the right to silence, whereas before the commission you are proposing, a co‑defendant could be compelled to testify about what happened.
The final area for scrutiny concerns questionable guilty pleas or defence strategies. There was the case of former judge Jacques Delisle, of which you are no doubt aware, and the Sarson case, a decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 1996. In both cases, the defence made strategic decisions. Mr. Sarson decided not to challenge the constitutionality of the law; Mr. Delisle decided not to testify. Both later came back and said they had been unfairly treated. In Mr. Sarson's case, the Supreme Court said there was res judicata and nothing more could be done. In Mr. Delisle's case, as you know, the minister of the day granted his request.
I think we have to differentiate this from cases of innocence. Someone who has committed an act, but is accused of another act, might decide to attempt avoiding conviction of the main act. Take the case of Mr. Sarson. He was charged with murder and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. It's a strategic choice for the defence. If he's found guilty of murder, that is indeed a miscarriage of justice, but not against an innocent person. So perhaps the same test shouldn't apply. That brings me to the power to reconsider sentencing, which should perhaps be included in your bill.
I'll close by mentioning an issue that was raised at the previous meeting about dubious guilty pleas leading to miscarriages of justice. It can happen. One example is the Simon Marshall case, which was tried in Quebec. Mr. Marshall, who had an intellectual disability, entered a guilty plea, and it was later discovered that he had not committed the crime.
He was cleared by DNA tests.
This is particularly important in the case of racialized or marginalized people, especially indigenous women who are victims of domestic violence. These women could be wrongfully convicted, because they don't think they have a defence.
Thank you.
:
Good evening, everybody. I'm very pleased to be with you this evening and to assist you with this important work.
I thought it would be helpful to set out some background to the U.K. commission's role, structure and powers, and the work we do within the British criminal justice system.
The CCRC—the Criminal Cases Review Commission—was established by Parliament in 1997, and we operate under the Criminal Appeal Act 1995. Parliament created us to be independent, in order to find and investigate possible miscarriages of justice and refer them to the appeal courts. We've been in existence for 26 years. In that time, we have looked at over 31,000 cases. In the same period, the commission has made 826 references to the appeal court, which equates to more than one case every two weeks and a historical average of around 31 cases a year. Around 70% of those references have resulted in convictions being quashed or, occasionally, sentences being reduced.
We're funded by way of an annual grant from the Ministry of Justice. Since 1997, our annual cash grant, taking account of inflation, has been £8.775 million. Last year, our grant was £7.28 million, so currently we're operating with funding that is 17% below the historical average.
Each year we get around 1,145 applications for review. We've seen a marked increase in past years following a move towards an easy-to-read online application form. The forecast for this business year is over 1,600 applications, and that's against a prison population in the U.K. of over 80,000. We don't have any queues or waiting times at the moment, but that position is very hard to sustain. We aim to conclude 85% of our reviews within a 12-month period. Recently we've been achieving that, but it's becoming more and more challenging. Obviously, more complex cases take longer, and reviews can run to one, two or even three years.
We submit an annual report with accounts to Parliament. Operational oversight is by a board chaired by Helen Pitcher and includes three independent, non-executive directors. We have around 120 staff, which equates to 101 full-time-equivalent employees. We have 11 commissioners to make decisions, and they constitute four full-time equivalents and are paid at day rates. Many, but not all, commissioners and casework staff are legally qualified.
We believe in a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach, so the organization includes people with legal and investigative skills, as well as specialists in forensic science and financial crime.
Parliament gave us a unique range of investigative powers. We can obtain material from any public body or private individual. We can order and direct police investigations when a case is particularly large. We have some other powers, including the ability to interview jurors under the direction of the court. We can review any criminal case, from the most minor offence to the most serious. We also cover the military courts.
We're a body of last resort, so individuals are usually required to have exhausted their appeal rights before they can apply to us. In exceptional cases, we can review a case even when there's been no appeal. That could include a case in which there's extreme vulnerability, perhaps through mental health. We can also deal with cases involving deceased persons if applications are made by their next of kin.
We can obtain files from police, courts, prosecution and defence, and we often see material from schools, social care providers, medical records and the security services. We can speak to witnesses, scientists, police officers and judges to understand what happened before, and we can order new tests on exhibits. We're the only body that can do this. We're the only body that can send a case for a second appeal. References are made on the basis of fresh evidence or new legal argument.
I'll wrap up there.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair, vice-chairs and members.
Thank you for inviting the Criminal Lawyers' Association to present to you today. Our organization represents roughly 2,000 defence lawyers across Ontario, with members from all over Canada. We are on the front lines daily, defending accused persons in court.
More personally, I was raised in small-town Ontario but practise in Toronto. I was called to the bar in 2009 and have had the unique opportunity to work on wrongful conviction cases.
You may be asking whether wrongful convictions really happen in Canada, since we have a world-class justice system, yet we know that they do. I volunteered, as a young lawyer, with what was then AIDWYC and is now Innocence Canada, for over a decade, working on the case of a young indigenous man convicted of murder. No single case had a greater impact on me or my career.
Creating this commission is such an important step for Canada to ensure that no Canadian receives a life sentence who doesn't deserve it. But for Innocence Canada, we wouldn't know about miscarriages of justice like the cases of Donald Marshall or David Milgaard or the now discredited evidence of Dr. Charles Smith.
Wanting to end wrongful convictions shouldn't be something that divides us along party lines; this should be a uniting goal for all of us. Wrongful convictions are not good for victims, for taxpayers or, more importantly, the public confidence in the justice system. The CLA supports Bill . Meaningful reform is long overdue.
From the CLA's perspective, a robust system of review requires two essential elements: institutional independence and sufficient infrastructure and resources to do this invaluable work. This bill addresses both, but may not go far enough. The CLA respectfully asks the committee to consider three additional points.
First, with respect to the commissioner and resources, we recommend that the commissioner have security and tenure to review unpopular cases. That's not an easy job and not one that is popular, and may run the risk of political interference. We recommend that the commission be staffed with those candidates who are alive to these issues, to the challenges faced by racialized and indigenous accused persons, those with mental health issues and, most importantly, that they be people who want to do this difficult work.
Second, with respect to the test for intervention, the test has always been whether or not this person who's coming to the minister for review could prove factual innocence. That is such a high bar. We applaud that the new reforms allow the commission to consider cases in which factual innocence is not established. This should be the norm, not the exception.
The CLA wishes to stress that this is a critically important change, given the many barriers faced by the wrongfully convicted, as pointed out by Justice LaForme and Justice Westmoreland-Traoré in their report.
Third, we ask that the reporting function of the new commission be enhanced and that we rely on that critical data to continue to improve our justice system. Bill presently requires that the commission report to the minister on an annual basis about the work it has carried out. We ask that the committee consider expanding that reporting to include systemic trends on wrongful convictions and a mechanism to make wide-ranging recommendations to police, prosecutors and the courts so that we can diligently make use of the data collected to improve the justice system.
Bill may seem like another piece of legislation, but I can say from my experience that it has the potential to be life-changing for those who are awaiting and deserve review.
Our question is this: Given that our system is one that is internationally regarded as the gold standard, should the test remain unchanged, or is there more we could do to ensure that we protect the most vulnerable in our society and ensure that fairness and justice are delivered to all?
I am available to answer any questions you may have. Given the time constraints today, I am also available to conduct a private briefing with anyone who wishes to expand on these points.
Thank you, again, Madam Chair, for the time.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to all the witnesses for appearing today on this important study.
My question is for Mr. Curtis.
Thank you for appearing and talking about your experience as we consider this next chapter in Canada.
I think a couple of things distinguish us from your experience. I'd like your comment on this.
Currently, as the previous witness just mentioned, there's a test that a miscarriage of justice “likely” occurred. That's something that the currently would have to consider with the support of specialized individuals within the Department of Justice.
This bill, in addition to creating this new commission, also introduces what could be a much lower threshold: that a miscarriage of justice “may” have occurred, and when I look at that by definition—“a miscarriage of justice may have occurred”—it could probably apply to almost any case.
In my understanding of your system, if you could expand on it, it's that in order for there to be a miscarriage of justice review.... In our case, there's no requirement for new evidence and there's no requirement of a new legal argument, but that is the case in your system. Could you expand on that a bit? What is the threshold that would trigger your looking into one of these cases?
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'd like to thank all the witnesses who have joined us, either in person or remotely.
Thank you, Mr. Roy, for being here in person. I'll begin by congratulating you. You are an affiliated with the university that, in my opinion, is the best in Canada.
That said, I'd like to hear your opinion of an aspect that was raised by my colleague Mr. Moore earlier. When it comes to the threshold, we used to say that a miscarriage of justice probably had occurred. Now, we would say that a miscarriage of justice may have occurred. The expression “may have occurred” seems a bit broad to me too. I feel like anyone could claim that, yes, there may have been a miscarriage of justice in a case, whereas the probability threshold seemed much more reasonable to me.
What do you think of this threshold issue regarding miscarriages of justice?
:
No one should be expected to do the impossible. If the commission is swamped with applications, it won't be able to respect the time limit, even if the legislation prescribes one. If you want to prescribe a time limit, you could look to the criteria established by the court in Jordan, so a maximum of 30 months to decide a murder case, for instance. I know it doesn't apply to cases under appeal, but it gives you an idea.
What I hope to see is more resources being allocated. There will certainly be more cases, but if more people are handling those cases, the wait times could be shortened.
I want to draw your attention to another important consideration that isn't in the bill. It should address situations where someone submits two, three or four applications for review. Say a person applies once, and their application is dismissed, but two years later, they identify other grounds. Would that person be allowed to apply a second time? Could they apply a third time, three years later, say? The bill doesn't cover situations like that.
Perhaps it would be easy to cut out multiple applications because they would be deemed inadmissible. Currently, the bill is silent on the maximum number of applications a person can submit.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'm coming back to you, Mr. Roy, not because the other two witnesses aren't important, of course. They raised some very interesting points, but you are here.
You talked about how we should consider expanding the commission's investigative powers to include going to the scene. The commission can compel certain witnesses to appear, if it wishes, including the applicant, who as you pointed out, is the accused. Those are all important considerations, in my view, but something is bothering me.
Let's say we give the commission broader powers, as you recommend. At the end of the day, doesn't that amount to the commission retrying the case? Theoretically, that should not be possible, since the commission's job is simply to determine whether a retrial is warranted.
Aren't you concerned that is a step too far, to some extent?
:
Welcome back, colleagues, for our second panel. We will now resume.
In our second hour, we are proceeding with our study on Bill .
[Translation]
We welcome, as an individual, Elizabeth Donnelly, associate professor, school of social work, University of Windsor, who is joining us by video conference; Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions; and Danette Thomsen, British Columbia regional council member, northeast region, British Columbia Nurses' Union, also joining us by video conference.
[English]
We will start with six minutes each.
Mr. Brock, are you on the list?
Oh, I'm sorry; before that, you each have five minutes for your opening remarks. After that, we will commence with questions.
I will ask Madam Donnelly to please proceed.
:
I want to thank the committee so much for the invitation. I'm delighted. It seems the third time's the charm to be able to present to you today.
My name is Elizabeth Donnelly. I'm an associate professor, but I am here today primarily because I have spent the last decade, and more, of my life focusing on workforce health issues for paramedics. I'm currently a co-investigator with Dr. Mausz in the Violence in Paramedicine Research Group.
In addition to my research, I have maintained certification as an emergency medical technician for over 20 years. I have done a significant amount of frontline work, so this is not theoretical work for me. This is very much about the folks I worked with and about keeping them safe.
Because I was initially supposed to testify last month, I just want to very briefly reiterate the points that my colleague made about our research.
Violence against paramedics is wildly under-reported, primarily due to a culture of a under-reporting and this idea that tolerating violence has become an expected professional competency. These beliefs about violence being unavoidable are changing after the creation of a novel reporting strategy and significant organizational change. Violence reporting is increasing, and while it's still under-reported, our research has found that paramedics are reporting violence every 18 hours, are assaulted every 46 hours and experience violence that results in physical harm every nine days.
The issue of violence against paramedics has been a concern for the paramedic community for years. The Paramedic Chiefs of Canada put out a position paper a number of years ago outlining a host of strategies that needed to be operationalized to keep paramedics safe. These included research to better understand the scope of the problem, evidence-informed strategies to keep our paramedics safe on the front line, increasing public awareness, and—most importantly for the folks on this call today—changes in policy and legislation.
This has been reinforced in the white paper they put out on the future of paramedicine in Canada, where violence was specifically identified as a health issue in the paramedic community. This has also been captured in the report that Mr. Doherty noted, report 29, which recommends amending the Criminal Code.
The paramedic community is doing their part. Many services have deployed this novel reporting tool. Many of them have agreed to share their data with my research group, so we are going to have a better idea of what's going on. It's a huge concern for our community, because we already have significantly higher rates of mental health challenges.
While the evidence base is still emerging within the Canadian context, it has been identified as a correlate to depression, anxiety, stress and burnout in other populations. Also—not specifically with paramedics—exposure to violence has been identified as associated with an intent to leave the profession. Right now, we're struggling to get providers on the roads. We're struggling to staff the trucks. We need to retain every human being that we have to provide the services that Canadians count on.
The paramedic community needs you. It needs the justice system for so many different reasons. Because violence was so long considered unavoidable and because tolerating it was an expected professional competency, we need everyone to say, “No, that's not true.”
Paramedics are helpers. They show up. They train. They prepare. They will be there in the night, upside down, in a ditch. They will show up for you when you need them.
Is it really reasonable that we tell our paramedics that we want them to show up but also to deal with intimidation, racial slurs and sexual harassment? Would you expect that in your workplace? Would that be acceptable for your constituents? I don't think that's true.
Legislation alone isn't going to solve this problem. It's complex. It's going to require comprehensive approaches. Paramedic services can do their part by putting programs together to keep their paramedics safe. Police organizations can get involved by investigating and laying charges. The Canadian government can do its part by amending the Criminal Code.
Amending the Criminal Code will do a lot of different things.
The first thing is it—
[English]
Sorry, Elizabeth. That bell is the worst part of the job.
Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, committee members, for the invitation. It's a privilege to be here.
As you know, I would like to acknowledge that the land that we are sitting on is the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. I'm a proud New Brunswicker from the beautiful land of the Mi'kmaq people.
I'm here as president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and on behalf of my 250,000 members. I'm proud that Danette, one of our leaders in British Columbia, will be presenting soon.
We're the working nurses. Like the paramedics, we're there 24-7, taking care of the sick.
Canada's nurses believe that the language in Bill complements the existing protections and Criminal Code changes outlined in Bill , which is now two years old. I'll get to that soon.
The Criminal Code changes found in Bill aimed to ensure better safeguards for health care workers, including nurses. Now Bill proposes expanding the language to include first responders. We welcome this proposed change to the Criminal Code. We recognize that violence against any health worker or first responder when they are performing their duties is an aggravating factor to sentences.
The facts are shocking. You heard Elizabeth talk about the paramedic field. In 2023, a pan-Canadian survey of nurses was done. Two-thirds reported incidents of physical assaults over the past year and 40% of those nurses reported physical abuse more than once a month while engaged in their duties.
All workers deserve a workplace free of violence and abuse. It should not be tolerated. Sadly, nurses and health care workers experience it routinely. We have to look at these. We have to bring in new measures, such as changing the Criminal Code, but we will also talk about prevention modes.
Many people in Canada are aware that public safety personnel—peace officers, police officers, firefighters and corrections officers—have high-risk jobs and often face violence. Most would be surprised that the same ratios exist in the health care field. Our health care facilities and our health care system are not safe places to work.
In addition to physical injury, workplace violence is strongly correlated with negative impacts on workers' mental health and has been seen as an issue facing nurses for many years. Exposure to violence predicts negative mental health outcomes, including PTSD. From our survey of working nurses, three in four, or 78.5%, report symptoms of burnout. Similar data is seen with public safety personnel.
A similar study was done by CFNU in 2019. Nearly one in four nurses screened positive for PTSD symptoms. MP Doherty will remember all the work we did in 2019 on a federal framework on PTSD, which included health care workers, such as nurses and paramedics.
Sadly, violence and abuse are normal in the health care system. Such a high rate of violence would be unthinkable in any other profession. It needs to be stopped. The health care risks are often accepted.
The House of Commons committee on health, HESA, tackled the challenge of rampant violence against nurses for the first time in a 2019 study. Bill came out of this and came into law in 2021, as one of HESA's recommendations. Bill will expand these protections.
Nurses are in solidarity with paramedics on this, but we need to go further than this. We need to be clear that this is not enough. We have to make the public and lawmakers aware of the changes in the Criminal Code and work on better protection for our health care workforce in order to work safely in our health care facilities and in our community. Thank you so much.
While we're encouraged by all this work, we know that many more recommendations of the HESA committee have to be done there.
We support this piece of legislation, but we encourage all MPs and all committees to look further to make our health care and our community safer for those who take care of the sick and the injured in their work.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I'll answer your questions.
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 here with you today speaking on behalf of our members.
When you consider acts of violence as a cause of workers from all occupations taking time away from work, nurses represent 30% of total claims, the second-highest occupation behind nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates. Between 2018 and 2022, nurses reported an average of 51 injuries per month caused by acts of violence in B.C. alone. The number of injuries reported over a four-year period between 2013 and 2017 rose by 49%, from 1,653 to 2,458. It's unacceptable.
BCNU represents approximately 48,000 members in the province of B.C.
You just have to turn on the news to see the increase in aggression in our society. Wait times in health care facilities due to circumstances outside of nurses' control are increasing, and incidents of violence are increasing along with them. Nurses working short-staffed, trying diligently to give the best care to their patients, are being targeted. They need to be protected. That is our job—your job and my job. We need to do this today.
Their families need them to return home safe. Can you imagine going home and not being able to hold your young child due to having been assaulted at work? Can you imagine a patient in a waiting room calling 911 to warn that a health care worker is about to get seriously injured, if not killed? This patient then proceeded to attack one of our male nurses and attempted to choke him out. The nurse who was attacked was working a shift his wife was supposed to work. Had he not been there, his month-long recovery could have looked so much different for somebody else.
What about the nurse in rural B.C. who, last January, entered a female patient's room and was attacked? Can you imagine being held over a chair, receiving punch after punch, with handfuls of your hair being pulled out, while waiting frantically for help to come from the RCMP? In many rural communities at night, there's only one RCMP officer on duty. That nurse was freed by another male patient, who assisted.
We hear horrifying stories. Many are so horrifying that I can't even tell them. The psychological impacts on our nurse victims and the colleagues who try to assist them last far beyond the physical trauma. This is costing our already crumbling health care system, as nurses are now dealing with their own mental health injuries and time off work, trying to heal. We are losing nurses from our system. This is the first time ever that B.C. is reporting empty seats in nursing programs. There's normally a wait-list to get into our programs, and we're not even filling our seats.
We have an obligation to protect those who are protecting others. We have an obligation to care for the caregivers.
I'm excited to be a part of this today. Thank you for having us here as the B.C. Nurses' Union. I look forward to answering any of your questions.
We fully support Bill .
One question that was asked when my colleague was testifying was, why does this matter and what is this going to change?
It's going to change a ton, because it's going to communicate to paramedics that they're valued and that the Government of Canada supports them. It's going to raise public awareness and say, “Hey, this issue of assault against our helpers is unacceptable. It's a serious offence and will be treated as such.” It's going to communicate to law enforcement and to the Crown that these assaults aren't just assaults; they are threats to public safety because we are losing our helpers. When we lose our helpers, we're going to lose safety for our whole community.
I think the other thing that's really important to understand is that just because the criminal justice system gets involved doesn't necessarily mean that everything is going to result in conviction. There are lots of avenues—diversion, mental health court—that can be used to get folks who may have health concerns the right kinds of support. The goal of this is restorative justice, not necessarily punishment.
Thank you so much for the extra few minutes to get my final thoughts out. I appreciate it.
The next question can be answered by anyone on the panel.
I'd like to make an observation that it's probably no small wonder that we have a crisis in the nursing profession in light of everything you shared with us in terms of the historical nature of the profession and the abuse that the profession receives. This is nursing, and this is also first-line responders as well.
I understand that under-reporting is commonplace in the nursing industry and in the paramedic and first responders field. I am married to a nurse. You represent my wife. For the last 20 years, I have heard example after example of how she has been personally tormented, that the administration is not doing anything about it, that there is a lack of security within the hospital setting itself and that the security is not acting as a deterrent.
The question I am bringing to your attention right now is on the whole issue of public knowledge, information sharing and making sure that the police understand they have tools available to them to charge.
The concern I have is on deterrence. One of the central features of sentencing on any particular case, from shoplifting all the way to murder, is that there is an element of deterrence—personal, specific deterrence to the offender to learn that there are consequences for their behaviour, and general deterrence to the community to learn that if one engages in similar behaviour, there are going to be consequences.
I am hearing from all of you that is the message you want to share.
We know that for many, many decades, there have been numerous cases of offences in the Criminal Code that have had aggravating features attached to them. When you have committed an offence against a certain individual in certain circumstances, it is an aggravating feature in sentencing.
In light of that, do you have any evidence to suggest that the Criminal Code will have some impact on the community at large, and on your profession, by making this an aggravating feature when you assault a health care worker or a first responder?
That is to anyone on the panel, please.
:
I'll start. Thank your wife and give her hope, because I do have hope.
I've been on many committees, on either violence or the nursing shortage, and we have a crisis in this country. The crisis goes further than nursing. It goes in all respects to our other health care workers.
On why it's important to change a criminal act, Elizabeth said it: It's a question of respect. It's a question of acknowledging that there is a problem.
As citizens, if we get stopped by the police and we spit on the police officer, we know exactly where we're going. In health care, patients, the community and parents do not understand that. We have to change the culture. Changing the culture starts with laws and prevention programs. It starts by MPs like you talking about it and saying that this is not okay.
My occupational health and safety experts from Alberta are going to Windsor the week of the 5th to look at the metal detectors at the Windsor hospital. That is discouraging. Health care dollars should be going to provide more nurses, more doctors, more health care professionals and workers, not metal detectors—but that's where we're going, and you're going to see it across the country.
I'm going to pick up on what Mr. Brock was asking, because I was going to go down the same path.
Ms. Silas, you said something along the lines that we need to look further, but you talked about prevention versus the Criminal Code.
Correct me if I'm wrong, because I'm just pontificating here a little bit.
When police are encountering somebody, it's probably that someone is engaging in a criminal act. However, when people are dealing with health professionals, like nurses or paramedics, those may be people who are in circumstances that don't involve a criminal act or criminal behaviour, but those are still the ones who are involved in some of the conduct we're talking about.
We're all in agreement, I think, on this bill, frankly, and I want to thank Mr. Doherty for bringing it forward. It's further to Bill , as you pointed out quite rightly. Is this going to be enough? There seems to be a much bigger problem, so I'm not sure that amending the Criminal Code to say that if you spit on a nurse, as the example you used, the amendment is going to act as a deterrent.
What else needs to be done? As parliamentarians, what else can we do to create an environment where we can prevent that type of behaviour? I'm asking because the numbers I'm hearing are staggering.
:
I congratulate you on your excellent taste. Well done.
I would say that it's not either-or. Changing legislation is prevention. There have been a number of examples of success stories, such as in Peel Region, where if they're getting multiple violence reports, they can reach out to that person and say, “If you continue to do this, these are the possible consequences. If you continue to do this, these are the ways in which we may respond.”
Creating the legislation changes police attitudes and changes police responses to the violence. It changes the lens with which the Crown looks at those incidents, so it's definitely not an either-or.
I said before in my comments that this has to be comprehensive. Changing legislation is a critical piece, but it is just a piece, and those other elements that I mentioned earlier are still so needed.
Thank you.
:
Thank you very much, Madam Chair. I want to thank all the witnesses for being here today.
I hope this process is part of that beginning to change the culture and that your appearances here today really do help to get that message across.
Ms. Donnelly, I'm particularly glad to see you here today, because of the technical problems we had before. I know you were quite frustrated in the attempt to appear. We are in a different room, and it appears to be working well.
Sending the message of respect to the workers is particularly important, and sending a message to the public is also important. What I want to talk a bit more about, because everyone will always say that the other things cost money, is what we're seeing and what I'm hearing from the witnesses, which is that the current situation costs the system money.
I am going to go first to Ms. Donnelly regarding paramedics. Can you say a bit more about the costs to the system of the prevalence of violence in terms of time off and in terms of retention of employees? How is this impacting the spending costs for paramedics?
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to my colleagues for allowing me to sit in on this, and thank you to our guests.
Ms. Silas and Danette, Bill came out of conversations we had, very honest and very frank conversations, earlier on when we were dealing with my bill, Bill , on PTSD.
I have the questions and I have the backgrounder that Mr. Fortin was looking for. I will send that information to the committee.
I don't want to take up any more time trying to answer your question, Mr. Fortin. I will get you the information that I have. I'll send it through my colleague here.
I think what we need to hear more of is the voices of our guests who are here. I spoke to a group of nurses in northern B.C. two years ago at the invitation of Ms. Thomsen. When I mentioned the proposal of this bill, it brought tears to nurses around the room. It was a very emotional time.
Through you, Madam Chair, I would like to ask our guests this question: Why does just talking about the proposal of this bill evoke so much emotion with your membership?
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to all our witnesses for being here and sharing what everyone working in the health care system goes through. Thank you for representing pretty much all health care workers across Canada.
My question is for all three of you. I'll put all the questions out there, and then you can take your turn one by one.
We've heard your testimony. It's very painful to hear. Especially when you're serving people at their most vulnerable, you too are at your most vulnerable.
Could you tell us, please, if the increase in violence started prepandemic or after the pandemic? Please explain to us why you think there is this surge of violence and how COVID exposed this vulnerability of health care workers.
I'll let you start with that. If there's anything else, I'll follow up.
Thank you to all of you.
:
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Again, thank you to all three witnesses.
You talked about the increase in violence since the pandemic, despite the amendments to the Criminal Code in 2021. The level of violence has continued to increase over the past two years. I stand wholeheartedly behind you. My spouse is a teacher, and every week, she comes home with horror stories. She works in an elementary school. Social workers and teachers are being bitten and hit. There seems to be a real problem in our society. You all mentioned the need to educate people or perhaps do a better job of supporting them and making them aware of the problem. That's what I want to discuss with you.
What can we do? What are the root causes of the problem? Why are people becoming more violent towards health workers, whatever their job, and teachers? In hospitals, is the problem due to the wait times? Is the issue that people are waiting too long? Is it access to care? Is it a lack of doctors and nurses? Is mental health to blame? You work in the field, so I'm interested in hearing your views. You can go first, Ms. Silas.
What is the root cause of the increase in violence?