While some pieces of legislation become law the moment they are passed in the Manitoba Legislature, many others only become law when the government sets a date for them to come into effect.
There are in fact dozens of pieces of legislation that have been debated and passed in the Manitoba Legislature but are still not law in the province because the NDP government has not actually proclaimed them. Those pieces of legislation are essentially sitting on the shelf waiting for government to sign them off and make them law.
One of those pieces of legislation waiting for NDP sign off is a law that allows police officers, paramedics and firefighters to have blood that they come into contact with during the course of their work tested to ensure it does not have disease. It is a bill that is intended to protect and give peace of mind to those who protect us. Increasingly, emergency responders are being called to scenes where there have been acts of violence or horrific accidents and despite their precautions, they come into contact with blood. The legislation that was passed more than a year ago by the Manitoba Legislature gives them the right to have the blood tested to protect them.
The legislation also allows a victim of crime, who may have come into contact with the blood of a criminal, to have the blood tested as well.
I was pleased to introduce this law into the Legislature more than 2 years ago and was glad that it received all party support. In fact, when the NDP government accepted the recommendation and came forward with a government sponsored Bill, I worked with all parties to ensure that it passed in the Legislature quickly so that it could be in place to help those emergency personnel who help us.
Yet more than a year after it received unanimous support in the Legislature it gathers dust waiting for someone in the NDP government to pick up a pen and sign it into law.
Sometimes it is understandable for it to take a few weeks for legislation already passed by the Legislature to become law. There may need to be some further consultations or publicity around an act so that people know that it is in effect. In this case however, there had been widespread consultations regarding the law before it ever came to the Legislature and there is little need for public advertising around it.
The fact that the legislation has sat idle for more than a year is simply a result of the NDP government not making it a priority. Despite the fact that the Manitoba Legislature quickly passed this bill the NDP are putting the safety of emergency responders at risk by not signing it into law. Those emergency responders who put their safety on the line every day for us deserve better from their government.
