HER MAJESTY, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of British Columbia, enacts as follows:

1 The title of the Fire and Police Services Collective Bargaining Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 142, is amended by striking out "Fire and Police Services Collective Bargaining" and substituting "First Responders".

2 Section 1 of the Act is amended

(a) by repealing the definition of "employer" and substituting the following:

"employer" means an employer of one or more members of a fire fighters' union or police officers' union or paramedics' union; ,

(b) by repealing the definition of "parties" and substituting the following:

"parties" means a fire fighters' union or police officers' union or paramedics' union and an employer with which it bargains collectively; ,

(c) by adding the following definition:

"paramedics' union" means a trade union certified for a bargaining unit in which the majority of employees are engaged in paramedic or emergency dispatcher duties; .

3 Section 3 of the Act is amended by adding "or paramedics' union" after "police officers' union".

 
Consequential Amendment

Health Authorities Act

4 Section 19.4 of the Health Authorities Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 180, is amended by adding the following subsection:

(4) Section 19.4 does not apply to a bargaining unit in which the majority of employees are engaged in ambulance paramedic duties.

 
Explanatory Note

This Bill amends the Fire and Police Services Collective Bargaining Act to include paramedics and emergency dispatchers.