Bill C-218

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying)

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to provide that a mental disorder is not a grievous and irremediable medical condition for which a person could receive medical assistance in dying.

Criminal Code

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-218, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying).

Mr. Speaker, imagine that someone's son or daughter has been battling depression for some time after losing their job or maybe due to a broken relationship. Imagine they feel a loss so deep that they are convinced the world would be better off without them. Now imagine this. Starting in March 2027, under Canadian law, they could walk into a doctor's office and ask them to end their life. Under our law, the system could legally do just that. Our society could end a person's life for solely a mental health challenge.

That is not a future scenario; it is the law right now waiting to take effect. The Liberal government has already had to delay this law twice. Why? It is because medical experts and legal scholars have raised the alarm again and again, saying that it is impossible to implement safely. Clinical experts have warned that there is no evidence-based way to determine if someone with a mental illness would get better. Most do. Still, the government is moving forward. The message it is sending is that struggling Canadians, trauma survivors and those battling depression—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

I would interrupt the member briefly.

The hon. chief government whip is rising on a point of order.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member seems to be giving a speech on the subject matter of the bill she is introducing. The point of this is to introduce the bill and give a quick summary of it. She has not even mentioned the bill yet or what is in it.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

I thank the member for the intervention. We do allow a brief summary and explanation of the bill. The member is well within her time at this point.

The hon. member for Cloverdale—Langley City may carry on from where she left off.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the message the government is sending is that struggling Canadians, trauma survivors and those battling depression, schizophrenia or PTSD are being told that death is a solution we are now willing to offer in response to a life of suffering, often compounded by harm this very society has caused them. That is not health care. That is not compassion. It is abandonment. Mental illness is treatable, and recovery is possible, but only if we show up and help.

Canadians are watching. They need us to stand up for life, dignity and hope.

It is my honour and privilege to rise today and introduce an act to amend the Criminal Code on medical assistance in dying.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)