Good samaritans and legislation to protect them

Today, Kevin Lamoureux and I introduced legislation which will give legal protection to a person who voluntarily and gratuitously gives help to a victim at the scene of an accident or emergency. The legislation, Bill 202, that we introduced will prevent a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being successfully sued for wrongdoing, except if the rescuer acted with gross negligence.

The purpose of this law is to encourage more people, especially those with some level of medical training, to provide assistance to individuals rendered ill, injured or unconscious by an accident or an emergency. This Good Samaritan legislation now before the Manitoba Legislature, will, if passed, encourage rescuers to assist victims.

Good Samaritan legislation like this bill now exists in 7 provinces and 2 territories in Canada, and in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. In other provinces, for example British Coumbia, incidents where people have been reluctant to assist victims have led to the passage of Good Samaritan legislation. In British Columbia, the support of the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia arose from a single incident during which 12 people watched a young man die after two of the bystanders advised the others not to become involved. We should pass this legislation in Manitoba to prevent such incidents happening, rather than afterwards when it is too late.

A big thank you to Leah Ross who helped prepare this legislation.