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HomeNewsBill C-211 Forwarded To Committee Following Senate Vote

Bill C-211 Forwarded To Committee Following Senate Vote

Prince George-Cariboo MP Todd Doherty says he is elated as his Bill that calls for a national framework on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is moving forward to committee.

Bill C-211 was adopted by the Senate at second reading this week and has now been passed on to the department’s Committee on National Security and Defence.

While the victory is huge, there’s still an uphill battle to climb according to Doherty.

“We still have a lot of work to do in educating the senators as what the bill is, to understand the importance of what this legislation is. So we’ve got some work to do but I’m very happy at the end of the date that all senators unanimously supported getting this to the committee,” he says.

Bill C-211 aims to give first responders who suffer from PTSD to get the help they need after getting diagnosed.

“We need to make sure that we are continuing to have that mental health discussion and this goes beyond the people who are listed on the Bill because once it passes as we move forward to what it’s being legislated to do, anyone at the table can decide to expand it to different groups,” says Doherty.

The Bill received backing last November by Natalie Harris who is a former paramedic and was on the job for 13 years in Barrie, Ontario before being diagnosed following a double murder she attended in 2012.

“People get into these careers because they want to help others,” notes Doherty.

“We ask and we believe every time that we phone 9-1-1 we know that they’re going to come running even though they may not be feeling great themselves. They put themselves and put forth a personal sacrifice to make sure you and I and our families are secure and we need to do the same for them.”

(With Files from Brendan Pawliw, My Prince George Now)

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