Bill C-260

Preventing Coercion of Persons Not Seeking Medical Assistance in Dying Act

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying — protection against coercion)

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to make it an offence for certain persons in certain circumstances to initiate a discussion with a person about the availability to them of medical assistance in dying, knowing that they have not specifically requested to have such a discussion.

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Finally, Mr. Speaker, I am tabling a petition in support of Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, on which I understand people can find more information by visiting www.carenotcoercion.ca. This is an excellent private member's bill tabled by a member of Parliament I know well.

Petitioners note that many reports, including media stories and evidence received by parliamentary committees, indicate a serious problem of veterans, people with disabilities, seniors and those living in poverty being offered euthanasia, or facilitated death, by bureaucrats while trying to access completely unrelated public services. People are seeking access to services from the government or other agencies and are having those people in positions of authority or trust tell them, “Well, instead of accessing these services, how about you die instead?” This is ghoulish and horrifying, but it is very real in this country. The CEO of Inclusion Canada, Krista Carr, has testified before the finance committee that she hears weekly complaints from people with disabilities who have had facilitated death proposed to them when they were trying to access other services.

There is a wide gap between what members of Parliament, in many cases, perceive on these issues and the lived experience of people with disabilities. Petitioners would encourage members of Parliament to listen to those concerns. Petitioners note that Bill C-260, the care not coercion act preventing coercion of persons not seeking medical assistance in dying, would prevent instances of coercion in which a bureaucrat offers medically facilitated death to those who are not asking for it.

Petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support Bill C-260, the care not coercion act; to find more information at carenotcoercion.ca; and to support additional action to combat the growing problem of MAID coercion.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, next I would like to present a petition in support of my private member's bill, Bill C-260, the care not coercion act. Incidentally, more information about that is available at our custom website, carenotcoercion.ca.

Canadians are concerned about the many reports, including those laid out on our website, indicating a series of problems of veterans, people with disabilities, seniors and those living in poverty being offered MAID or euthanasia by bureaucrats when they are trying to access unrelated public services. These repeated, unprompted offers from those who are not even supposed to be involved in providing facilitated death can be coercive in nature and make it more difficult for people to access public services they are entitled to.

Petitioners call attention to the testimony of the CEO of Inclusion Canada, Krista Carr, before the finance committee, that she hears weekly complaints from people with disabilities who have had facilitated death proposed to them when they are trying to access other public services.

They highlight the story of Christine Gauthier, a veteran living with disability who was fighting simply to get a wheelchair stairlift from Veterans Affairs Canada. A caseworker suggested she pursue facilitated death instead.

These are not isolated cases. There are many examples of this on our website, carenotcoercion.ca. Bill C-260 would provide a response to this by prohibiting bureaucrats from proposing facilitated death to those who have not asked for information about it.

Petitioners hope that all members will get behind Bill C-260 and protect the ability of veterans, people with disabilities, the elderly, those living in poverty and all Canadians to be able to access public services without fear of this kind of coercion. They also want to see the government take additional steps to combat the problem of this coercion.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow the House will begin debate on Bill C-260, the care not coercion act.

Reports, including many media stories, as well as evidence heard by parliamentary committees, have indicated the serious problem of seniors, veterans, people living with disabilities and those living in poverty being offered MAID, facilitated death, by bureaucrats when they are trying to access unrelated public services. These unprompted offers can cause serious distress, be coercive in nature and make it more difficult for people to access public services in the future. In fact the CEO of Inclusion Canada, Krista Carr, has testified that she hears weekly complaints from people with disabilities about this problem.

The petition highlights various other cases, including that of Christine Gauthier, a veteran living with disabilities who spent five years trying to get funding for a wheelchair stairlift from Veterans Affairs Canada. A caseworker offered her facilitated death instead. This is one of many instances of cases involving Veterans Affairs Canada.

Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, to prevent coercion of persons not seeking medical assistance in dying, would prevent these instances of coercion in which a bureaucrat offers medically facilitated death to people who are not seeking it.

The people who signed the petition want the House to support Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, as it begins debate tomorrow, and they want more action to combat the problem of MAID coercion.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to table a petition in support of Bill C-260, the care not coercion act.

Petitioners highlight many reports of veterans, as well as people with disabilities, seniors and others, who have been seeking unrelated health services or other kinds of services from the government and have, instead of being offered the assistance they are looking for, had those officials, out of the blue, suggest or promote to them that they seek facilitated death instead.

The CEO of Inclusion Canada, Krista Carr, has recently testified that she hears weekly complaints, from people with disabilities in particular, highlighting these situations where somebody who is seeking unrelated public services is having death promoted to them as a way out instead. This is not the approach that Canadians expect, especially from government employees who are not even involved in the provision of these things.

With this in mind, petitioners ask that the government support Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, and support additional actions to combat the growing problem of MAID coercion. I understand that the bill is scheduled to have its first hour of debate next Wednesday, April 29.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Airdrie—Cochrane, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to table a petition today that discusses Bill C-260, the care not coercion act. This is in the wake of many veterans' experiences in this country. When they reached out to Veterans Affairs seeking help to live their lives, they were instead pushed towards the idea of medical assistance in dying.

The petitioners are concerned with these instances and are calling on the government to support Bill C-260, the care not coercion act.

Use of Federal Lands for Veterans

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives want to help veterans with concrete measures, not with another study.

The government has known for years that lots of federal buildings are empty. A 2017 report indicated that nearly half of all federal office space was underutilized, but the government has still not taken action. The Office of the Auditor General confirmed that more than $1 billion was allocated to reducing office space with very little progress to show for it. Meanwhile, those empty buildings are still costing taxpayers dearly.

Moreover, the basis for this motion is flawed. The Auditor General said that the Canadian Armed Forces fell short of its recruitment target by about 5,000 soldiers and that the recruitment system is too slow and poorly organized. The government also announced more than $4 billion in cuts to Veterans Affairs Canada. They cannot say they want to deliver more services for veterans while simultaneously shrinking the budget. Conservatives believe the government must stop wasting time, use empty buildings and help veterans now.

We are debating a Liberal motion with respect to veterans. I think my colleague from Edmonton West ably made many of the arguments I was planning to make with respect to the general absurdity of Liberal government MPs' using rare private members' bill slots to put forward motions asking committees to do studies.

Briefly, to summarize those arguments, if a member believes that a committee should study an issue, the member can simply go to the committee, make the appropriate arrangements with their colleagues at the committee and move the motion at the committee to do the study. The House does not need to instruct a committee to do a study. At times it chooses to do so, but the simplest way to achieve that objective is to simply go to the committee and move a motion for that study. That frees up the private member's bill slot to put forward an additional initiative.

The only reason to use a private member's bill slot in the House to do an instruction to committee is that a member cannot think of anything else to do with their private member's bill slot. That seems like a missed opportunity, when, again, they could simply go to the committee to move the study motion. Moreover, I think the committee itself is often in the best position to prioritize the various options in terms of a study.

There are certainly important studies that the House may wish to bring to a committee's attention. The House can do other things, such as create special committees or provide committees with priority access to the resources of the House. There are certain powers that the House uniquely has and can exercise, but nothing in the motion before us proposes the unique use of powers that are only those of the House. This motion would direct a committee to do something that a committee could choose to do itself. Further, a member could use the time to propose legislation on this matter, which the member has chosen not to do.

I know that the committee is already doing important work in a number of different areas. I want to use the balance of my time to talk a bit about some of the work that, as I know, has already happened at various committees dealing with veterans issues and to highlight some of the work being done by the opposition on veterans issues.

I have had the pleasure of working with our veterans shadow minister, drawing attention to the critical issue of how veterans have been treated by Veterans Affairs Canada, particularly in the context of seeking access to other services but having facilitated death, MAID, proposed to them. It is based on these conversations and evidence gathered at the veterans affairs committee that I have put forward Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, which using a private members' bill slot to put forward specific legislation that tries to change law in a way that a motion at committee cannot.

What veterans are deeply concerned about is how, in a growing number of cases, represented by multiple caseworkers from multiple provinces, an untold number of veterans are reporting that they have called Veterans Affairs Canada asking for help, asking for assistance with a stair lift, asking for mental health supports or asking for other kinds of supports, and instead of receiving the supports they have asked for, bureaucrats from Veterans Affairs Canada have proposed to them that they pursue facilitated death instead. This is wrong. It is a violation of a sacred trust. It unfortunately really drives people away from seeking the help that they are entitled to.

The reality of the life of a veteran often involves a constant need to interface repeatedly with Veterans Affairs Canada to explain things that have been explained before and to advocate for things that a person should be entitled to. This constant need to be in an annoying and, at certain points, painful dialogue with Veterans Affairs Canada to seek the basic things they are entitled to is, unfortunately, a part of the life of many veterans. We should work to do better and to push for a reality in which veterans do not have to be frustrated by or even fear these contacts with bureaucrats. Instead, they should simply, as a matter of course, receive the services that they have been promised and to which they are entitled.

People are not receiving the services that they are entitled to and are instead talking to bureaucrats with no direct involvement in medical services or facilitated death. They are being told if they are frustrated by all these things or if they are having such difficulty, why do they not pursue a facilitated death instead? That is wrong. I think in the past, the government has acknowledged that this is wrong when it has been unable to deny that it has happened, but we need to go further and actually ensure that this sort of thing does not happen again. That is why I put forward Bill C-260, the care not coercion act.

Bill C-260 would ensure that a person in this country would not receive a recommendation or pressure for a facilitated death from a bureaucrat when they are seeking unrelated public services. It would not apply in cases where a person is asking for information about facilitated death. It would not apply in the case of a conversation with a doctor or a nurse. If Bill C-260 passes, it would mean that if someone is contacting government bureaucrats and asking about public services, they will no longer be told, if the government cannot get someone a stair lift within the time they want it, to consider a facilitated death instead.

It is ghoulish and bizarre that this has happened in this country, but it has happened. It has happened many times to many different veterans in different provinces across the country, demonstrating pretty clearly that it was not just a one-off. This is something that has involved multiple caseworkers on the part of the government.

I think there are many ways we can and must do better for our veterans in this country. One clear step we can take is to address the retraumatization, the pain and the frustration that is often associated with this need to continually contact and be in touch with bureaucrats in cases where those interactions have been very negative for the individuals. We can try to put parameters around what is and what is not appropriate in those conversations in order to protect veterans.

Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, is concrete legislation that the Conservatives are putting forward. It builds off work that has been done at committee. I commend my colleagues, particularly on the veterans affairs committee, who have been studying the issue of veteran suicide, and who have been looking at these instances of pressure and coercion around facilitated death and other things. This is the work being done by committee.

Again, I suggest members who want the committee to conduct other studies or work on other issues to go to those committees, talk to the members of those committees, and put forward ideas there for studies, as they are entitled to do.

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, imagine someone is in a situation where they rely on public services, public services that they are entitled to, yet regularly, when they try to access those services, instead of receiving the help they need, someone suggests that they die.

For veterans calling Veterans Affairs Canada, people with disabilities seeking information about benefits, seniors and people living in poverty, accessing public services is now a minefield of bureaucrats suggesting that death might be a better option. These suggestions are traumatizing, and these suggestions are coercive.

We must not accept this as normal. It is not normal. That is why I put forward Bill C-260, the care not coercion act. This bill would prevent bureaucrats from proposing facilitated death to those who are not seeking it. Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, is a critical step toward protecting the rights of people to access public services without hearing a bureaucrat suggest that they die instead.

Anyone interested can find out more about it and read the stories of where this has happened at carenotcoercion.ca.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition I will table today deals with medically facilitated death and the impact of the current regime on Canadians with disabilities. The petitioners are concerned with the frequent offers of facilitated death by those in authority, including in cases where people are not seeking information on it. There have been instances where people with disabilities are seeking access to unrelated public services and, instead, have been confronted with proposals from people in authority that they pursue facilitated death.

There is a bill before the House that I put forward, Bill C-260, the care not coercion act, which seeks to deal with situations where MAID is proposed to those who are not seeking it. The petition goes further than the bill and calls on the House to protect all Canadians whose death is not reasonably foreseeable by prohibiting medically facilitated death for those whose prognosis for natural death is more than six months.