Madam Speaker, when I was in high school I had the privilege of looking after an elderly lady who had MS. She was bound to a wheelchair and needed assistance on the weekends. I would provide respite care.
At the time her husband had left her, unfortunately, for her first caregiver. She was left abandoned, sometimes feeling depressed, discouraged and absolutely questioning life, but nevertheless offered hope and something of great worth and value to me as a young person in high school.
I would spend time with her listening to her stories and her reflections, and she modelled for me this great depth of character, humility, kindness, and an understanding that life sometimes gets difficult, but one puts their head up and keeps going.
I would talk to her about the challenges I faced in high school. She would walk me through them and she would offer her perspective and her insight. She always helped me come back into alignment. I cannot imagine living through high school without the blessing Sheila offered in my life at that time. I am incredibly thankful for the contributions she made.
The legislation before this House, Bill C-7, has to do with making changes to the parameters around physician-assisted death. People like Sheila will be put at risk. They will be put in harm's way should this legislation go through. It certainly seems that is the direction we are going here today, and it is unfortunate.
I would like to outline four specific concerns that exist with this legislation, and these are the concerns that are being brought forward by every single disability group in this country and have been signed off on by more than a thousand physicians here in Canada.
The first concern is, under this new piece of legislation, death would no longer need to be foreseeable, which means that it would no longer need to be imminent.
One witness said, “The removal of 'reasonably foreseeable' natural death as a limiting eligibility criterion for the provision of MAID will result in people with disabilities seeking MAID as an ultimate capitulation to a lifetime of ableist oppression.” She is talking about the devaluation of those who live with a disability and the elevation of those who have able bodies. It is wrong.
The second problem with this legislation is that it would remove a 10-day waiting period. Between giving a formal signature saying yes to medical assistance in dying and actually having the procedure administered, there used to be a 10-day waiting period. This legislation would do away with that. With something so final, so irreversible, it seems appropriate that an opportunity for a sober second thought would be granted to those who are seeking this procedure. At minimum, they should be given the opportunity to reflect.
Others will argue that they have already reflected, they have spent time thinking about this and it is often not a decision made in the moment, but I would contend, and psychologists would agree with me, there is something very significant that happens in the mind of a human when they put pen to paper. When they sign off on something, it often provokes further emotion, further consideration and further conversation with family and friends. We must give people that opportunity.
The third concern I have with this piece of legislation, and it is backed up by so many, is that it would require only one witness to sign off and not two. This takes away from the accountability required. It puts the vulnerable at risk.
In order to execute a will, two signatures are required. This is to execute a will, which is for the most part about finances. How much more should we require that extra element of accountability and thought when it comes to someone's life?
The fourth concern I would like to bring to this House today is that this legislation would not require the patient to initiate the conversation. In other words, it would allow the physician to initiate it. It would also allow the physician, or another medical practitioner, to suggest or incite the idea on behalf of the patient or for the patient. That is dangerous. It is extremely dangerous.
To illustrate this point, we had a witness come to committee whose name is Taylor Hyatt. She talked about her experience as a 20-something woman who is in a wheelchair. She went to the doctor because she had pneumonia. This is a condition most people would recover from when they are in their twenties, and so she had every expectation that of course she is going to be fine on the other side.
This was her experience:
“[The doctor] said, “The only thing we know is that this infection affects your breathing and you may need oxygen. Is that something you want?” My answer was, “of course”. [The doctor] seemed surprised and unconvinced so she asked [me] again. My answer was unchanged.
A doctor should never pressure a patient to consider medical assistance in dying, never. That is completely inappropriate. Taylor made this very clear in her testimony when she said, “Whether disabled or not, Canadians look to these professionals as guides. Doctors have power to shape the perspective of others and they should wield it with great care.”
It is absolutely necessary that we treat all people, but in particular those who live with a disability, with the utmost respect, dignity and value. What does it say about our society when we neglect to do just that?
This is an important question, and again it is one that is being asked by so many within the disabilities community. They are afraid that over time this will become entrenched in our social fabric as a nation. Instead of it being an option, it would actually become the expectation that of course a person with a disability would seek medical assistance in dying, and of course they would not want to live their life with these perceived restrictions or pain in their lives.
We actually know that doctors overestimate the perception of someone with a disability, as to the value of their life. In other words, a person with a disability sees great value in what they have to offer and in the life that they live, but the physician often imposes upon them a different set of values and a different level of worth, and that is wrong.
Krista Carr, the VP of Inclusion Canada, said, “The disability community is appalled that Bill C-7 would allow people with a disability to have their lives ended when they are suffering but not dying.” They are suffering, but they are not dying.
She went on to say, “Language and perceptions are powerful. Including disability as a condition warranting assisted suicide equates to declaring some lives [just simply are] not worth living”.
It creates this differentiation, then, between first-class society and second-class society; those who have able bodies and those who have bodies that are different; those who live with a disability and those who do not. It is atrocious that we would go down this road as a society.
Catherine Frazee has spinal muscular atrophy, and she was a professor of disability studies at Ryerson. She asked, “Why us?”
She apologized for her illustration, but nonetheless it is a point worth making. It makes us uncomfortable, but here is her quote. She said:
Why only us? Why only people whose bodies are altered or painful or in decline? Why not everyone who lives outside the margins of a decent life, everyone who resorts to an overdose, a high bridge, or a shotgun carried out into the woods? Why not everyone who decides that their quality of life is in the ditch?
Surely the answer rises up in [each of us]: That's not who we are.
Let those words ring in this place: “That's not who we are.”
As Canadians, we pride ourselves as being people who are full of compassion; people who treat one another with dignity, respect and honour; and people who look at one another regardless of the colour of their skin, their race or ethnicity, the language they speak or their background.
We look at each other and we say, “You are a person of value; you are a person of worth; you are a person who deserves respect”. It is not like us to relegate those who have a disability as second-class citizens. We must not go in this direction. We cannot do that because this is not who we are.
