Edmonton-area MP tables Bregg’s Law
Tougher punishment for transit-operator assaults sought in name of severely beaten driver
An Edmonton-area MP has introduced a bill at the House of Commons that would mean harsher sentences for assaults on transit operators.
Edmonton-St. Albert MP Brent Rathberger tabled “Bregg’s Law,” a private member’s bill, on Thursday morning. If the bill becomes law, it would introduce a definition of “public transit operator” into the Criminal Code, making assaults on transit workers an aggravating circumstance in sentencing.
The proposed legislation is named after Edmonton Transit bus driver Tom Bregg, who lost the sight in his left eye and suffered severe facial injuries after he was attacked by 25-year-old Gary Mattson on Dec. 3, 2009. Surveillance video of the incident shows Mattson knocked the bus driver unconscious after a short argument, dragged Bregg’s limp body off the bus, then stomped on his head 15 times.
Mattson pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for the attack and also pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in connection with the incident. At a December dangerous offender hearing, Crown prosecutors argued Mattson should face the criminal designation due to his history of aggression. Mattson still awaits the verdict, the harshest penalty under the Criminal Code, which would mean indefinite incarceration.
