BCNU's Violence Campaign Continues to Resonate at Federal Level

Members from northern BC and around the province can celebrate the latest milestone in BCNU's violence campaign: a second federal member of parliament has taken the issue of violence in health care to the steps of the federal parliament buildings over the past 12 months.

Late last week, Todd Doherty, Member of Parliament for Cariboo-Prince George, introduced a private member's bill to the House of Commons, intended to address increasing violence against health-care workers and first responders across Canada.

Doherty's enactment amends the Criminal Code to require a court to consider the fact that the victim of an assault is a health-care professional or a first responder to be an aggravating circumstance for the purposes of sentencing.

This bill is in addition to one tabled in February of 2019 by Don Davies, Member of Parliament for Vancouver Kingsway, to amend the Criminal Code regarding assaults against a health-care worker.

Davies' bill includes statistics stating that over the last decade, violence-related time-lost claims for frontline health-care workers has increased by 66%, three times the rate for police and correctional officers combined. He also noted that national data also shows that 61% of nurses have experienced a serious problem with some form of violence over a recent 12-month period.

BCNU will continue to advocate for increased recognition of the significant impact violence in the workplace continues to have on our members and supports legislative initiatives that will result in stiffer sentences for anyone convicted of assaulting nurses and other healthcare workers.