SoVote

Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed (Vancouver Granville, Lib.)

Dec/6/21 4:35:34 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-3

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Nickel Belt. Before I begin my formal comments, I would like to tell the member for Bow River that he does indeed represent a beautiful riding. I have enjoyed many trips to his part of the country, and it is a beautiful part of Canada. I am thankful for the opportunity to discuss Bill C-3, an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Canada Labour Code, which I am proud to support. As we continue the fight against COVID-19, this legislation is particularly important. It is important because it protects federally regulated workers when they get sick with 10 paid sick days. It is important because it serves to protect those who have served tirelessly and continue to do so, preserving and protecting the health of each and every one of us. The Criminal Code amendments proposed in this bill have become an unfortunate necessity given the behaviour of a small number of Canadians who are not supportive of the public health measures put in place to protect the health and safety of our communities and to ensure our future recovery. The vast majority of Canadians have shown tremendous appreciation, gratitude, kindness and support for our health care workers, just as all members of this House have done and continue to do. They, like us, believe in the right to peaceful protest, but those out there who have chosen violence and intimidation have put the mental and physical well-being of our health care workers at grave risk. I am certain that many members of this House find it hard to fathom that at a time like this, during a pandemic, when health care workers have given everything for us, in some cases their lives, that anyone would threaten or harass them as they try to care for us. I find it difficult to understand why anyone would seek to obstruct their fellow citizens from getting vital treatments, whether for critical emergency cases, cancer treatments or necessary surgery. My riding of Vancouver Granville is home to many of Vancouver’s health care workers and hospitals, such as Vancouver General Hospital, BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre and BC Children’s Hospital. It is the epicentre of British Columbia’s health care infrastructure. Those who work in the health care field seek nothing more than the ability to do their jobs safely. This summer, my community, Vancouver Granville, was ground zero for anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers, who harassed and threatened health care workers and patients at VGH. They endangered the safety of our exceptional health care workers by making threats, inciting others to violence, obstructing passage into health facilities and intimidating patients from accessing vital health care services. In short, they decided to put themselves, and their selfish views, ahead of their fellow Canadians. This type of behaviour is intolerable, particularly at a time when access to health care services is more essential than ever before. We cannot have our health care workers driven from their profession due to unsafe working conditions. Like many in this House, I have spoken to health care workers in my riding who have shared the unacceptable violence and harassment they have experienced on the job. One nurse told me that she had never, in 23 years, feared for her life until this summer. Trying to get through a protest to her shift, she was jeered, called a sheep and a traitor. She was coughed on, pushed and physically prevented from entering VGH. She told me that she does not want to be made a hero. She just wants to be able to do her job safely. Another health care worker, a recent immigrant to this country, told me he thought that in Canada we believed in science and in taking care of one another. That was why he escaped to come to Canada for a better life. He said he just could not believe what he was seeing around him. He shared that he had been harassed verbally, shoved while trying to help a doctor get through to the doors of the hospital and had his mask ripped off his face a number of times. These are the kinds of acts that the existing Criminal Code and the proposed measures in Bill C-3 target. No Canadian should fear for their safety when seeking or providing health care services, especially those who have been on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. The incredible health care workers at VGH, the BC Women’s Hospital, the BC Children's Hospital, and all facilities across Vancouver Granville and Canada, deserve our gratitude, our care and our protection. While the pandemic is the immediate context of concern, these forms of harmful conduct in the health care sector are not new. Studies show that health care workers experienced high rates of on-the-job violence long before the pandemic. We know this problem is widespread and well established. The measures proposed in Bill C-3 aim to provide better protection for these workers and to secure safe access to their services of all of us who depend on them. The measures proposed in the bill are designed to strengthen existing protections in two primary ways. First, two specific new offences are being added to the Criminal Code. The first new offence is intended to prevent intimidation of health care workers when they are performing their duties and of individuals requiring care or obtaining a health service. The second new offence would prohibit obstructing any individual from entering a health care facility, because every Canadian has the right to unimpeded access to health care services. The second set of measures would add aggravating sentencing factors, because the health care sector has advocated for years to protect its workers in the event of assault. These measures respond to the concerns of health care workers across the country. As we continue to address the evolving challenges of COVID-19, we need to support our health care workers by ensuring they have an accessible and safe working environment, one free from harassment, intimidation and violence. The COVID-19 pandemic has put a major strain on our health care system. We must ensure that the people who work in this sector can continue to provide critical care to keep Canadians healthy and safe. This is exactly what these Criminal Code amendments would do. I would be remiss not to mention again another important piece of this bill, which would ensure that all federally regulated workers would have access to 10 paid sick days. No one should have to make the difficult decision between going to work sick and not feeding their families. Paid sick leave would provide vital support to workers, their families and the health of our communities, as we continue to face new challenges in the fight against COVID-19. Access to paid sick leave is crucial to our economic recovery and to strengthening the social safety net Canadians rely on. Together, these measures would help Canadians as we come out of this pandemic. I know all members of this House care deeply about our health care workers, and I ask each and every member of this House do what we know is possible and come together across party lines to pass this important piece of legislation without delay. Through this pandemic, we have referred to our health care workers as heroes. Now let us do our part to protect them.

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Context: House Hansard - 11 - Dec/6/21

Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed

Dec/6/21 4:43:39 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-3

Madam Speaker, I do not know the answer to that question, but I am sure we will be able to get back to the hon. member with an answer. If we are working together on this legislation, we should be able to protect those workers as well.

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Context: House Hansard - 11 - Dec/6/21

Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed

Dec/6/21 4:45:08 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-3

Madam Speaker, the hon. member makes an important point. We are in a place right now where we do need to be thinking about those people who are taking care of us. Health care workers have put themselves on the line, tirelessly and constantly, throughout the pandemic. They have done so before and will continue to do so after the pandemic. It is our job as parliamentarians to ensure that those health care workers are protected at their place of work, and that those who are coming to access services feel safe and secure. Our job is to make sure that Canadians are able to access the rights and the care to which they are entitled.

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Context: House Hansard - 11 - Dec/6/21

Mr. Taleeb Noormohamed

Dec/6/21 4:46:57 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-3

Madam Speaker, the hon. member is absolutely right. It is becoming insidious. During the last election, many of these very same protesters chose to attack our office. They harassed young people who were volunteering in the office. They intimidated people who were trying to come to have conversations with us. I think all of us need to do exactly what the hon. member said. We need to recognize that this is a very serious and real problem. It is going to require all of us to come together, regardless of the party we belong to, to say with a firm voice that it is unacceptable to harass people this way, particularly when we are talking about our health care workers and when it comes to giving children a hard time. It is unacceptable as Canadians for us to think that, in this day and age, we would obstruct these people from doing what they are trying to do, which is help Canadians stay healthy.

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