The first point is with regard to the absence of creation of a charter right. The court recognized that the rights to life and security of those persons who sought medical aid in dying were at issue. The court stated that these rights are attacked, if you wish, or infringed by the fact that assisted suicide and euthanasia are forbidden in certain circumstances. So in fact the court is making an exception to a criminal act, an exception to the act of culpable homicide, or murder, and an exception to the offence of assisted suicide.
As to the other aspect, I think this House has the power to reaffirm that the intent of the prohibition of assisted suicide, of euthanasia, of murder, of culpable homicide in our Criminal Code is to protect all Canadians. If you do use that premise rather than the premise used by the court, then the judgment falls back, goes away, because the judgment is all based on the fact that the only reason to have these provisions is to protect only vulnerable Canadians. The Attorney General of Canada made the case that it was to protect all Canadians and to protect the life of all Canadians, but the court rejected that.
This House has the power to say these prohibitions remain, there is no exception, and the intent is to protect all Canadians. You have the power to do that. Several private members' bills—mind you, they were not bills of a majority government—were all defeated, and I think there was a lot of wisdom in that.
I'm afraid we're rushing into this thing, trying to implement it before June 6, when really there are alternatives. History will have to judge you. I'm not trying to blame anyone. We're all faced with the situation. There are alternatives, except nobody is addressing them at the moment.