Mr. Speaker, first responders, nurses and health care workers serve and protect our communities. They run toward danger, they heal our broken bones and they hold our hand as we take our last breath. However, what we have seen in the last 48 hours by the Liberal government, which is using frontline heroes as political pawns, is shameful.
I received a message from a first responder late last night who said that this week, they were so hopeful that political agendas would be put aside to pass a bill that had been unanimously supported three times and should have passed in the last Parliament. They said that now our safety is once again being used as a bargaining chip in a bill that will never pass in a minority Parliament. They are saddened to see their government act like this. They gave their life to a career that has destroyed them.
Violence is not part of their job description. The Liberals tying the safety of our first responders and health care workers to an omnibus bill that will never pass is disgusting. Does a first responder or nurse actually have to lose their life before they will take this seriously?