Thank you very much. I appreciate the opportunity to be here with honourable members on this matter that is very important to our country as well as here in Ottawa.
I filed my submission, and the three areas I addressed are the sanctity of life, palliative care, and freedom of conscience. I hope you've had a chance to read it; it's limited by your limitation of 750 words.
I want to say first of all that I think it is important to acknowledge two things. One is that I'm here as an aboriginal person. My tribe is Wolastoqiyik from New Brunswick. Maliseet is what the English call us; in French they call us Malécite. In my teachings—from my elders, of course—life is respected in all of its stages. I mention this in my brief. Also I'm here as a Catholic. A principle of our Catholic faith as well is that life is respected in all its stages.
Since I was coming here, a friend of mine gave me a copy of legislation entitled an act to establish Pope John Paul II Day, which was enacted by Parliament and assented to on December 16, 2014, in which Parliament acknowledged the important role that Saint John Paul II played not only in this country but in the world as well.
I want to refer in particular to his “Prayer for Life”. If you don't mind, I'm going to hold on to my eagle feather, Mr. Chairman.
O Mary, bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living, to you do we entrust
the cause of life: Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers of babies not
allowed to be born, of the poor whose
lives are made difficult, of men and
women who are victims of brutal
violence, of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of Life with
honesty and love to the people of our
time. Obtain for them the grace to accept
that Gospel as a gift ever new, the joy of
celebrating it with gratitude throughout
their lives and the courage to bear witness
to it resolutely, in order to build, together
with all people of good will, the civilization
of truth and love, to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.
That was on March 25, 1995.
With respect to the issue of palliative care, when two ministers announced Bill C-14, the Minister of Health indicated that there would be some money invested in palliative care. I'll refer honourable members to a study that was done, the report from which was called “Not to be Forgotten: Care of Vulnerable Canadians”. It was done by a parliamentary committee here in 2011. It's an extensive report, a comprehensive report, but I would recommend that at least your researchers look at it, because there's a very strong statement in it about looking at palliative care and making sure that governments uphold this portion. It requires simply an amendment of the Canada Health Act for it to happen. Many people are placed in hospices and other centres and literally wait for their time to die. I know many people, my friends and relatives and family, who have been in that situation. It's important that the government make life as comfortable as possible for these people in the last days of their lives.
The other area I will concentrate on is freedom of conscience. Of course we know it's a fundamental right within our charter.
I remember when this was being debated in 1980. Mind you, I was on the other side; I was advocating for indigenous and aboriginal rights back then throughout our country, making sure that the document would in fact protect our people.
One of the writers of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was an individual from New Brunswick, Professor Humphrey. Article 18 of that document says that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion”. This same phrase, of course, is also repeated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, again in article 18.
Canada not only acknowledged the existence of these particular declarations, but Canada as a country also signed what's called the optional protocol, which allows a citizen of this particular country to question the decision-making power of Parliament and whether it is in fact fulfilling the obligations under international instruments.
My cousin Sandra Lovelace of course was the first one who took the optional protocol to the United Nations, and she's a senator now. It was about dealing with her identity as an indigenous woman who had lost her rights through marriage to a non-native. Ultimately, Canada was sanctioned by the United Nations, and Canada changed the law in 1985.
I put that on record maybe because as I look at this legislation, I'm not sure if the advisers at the Department of Justice examined this legislation in terms of conscience rights—because there's an absence there—so does it in fact comply with international law? Does it comply with the instruments at the United Nations level? Of course, the Department of Justice has all kinds of experts. I just raise that with the committee, Mr. Chairman, because I think it's something that shouldn't be overlooked. I remember how in the 1980s, when legislation was passed and they would sometimes say, “Okay, hold your nose and let it pass, even if you don't agree with it.”
Conscience is so important and so critical. If you force somebody to do something against their will and they have firm beliefs, what's going to happen to the medical profession? What's going to happen to those institutions that exist and do not wish to participate in this particular arrangement that's going to be enacted by Parliament? Almost everybody is saying that it's inevitable that it's going to pass, but there has to be a reason, and I think parliamentarians should realize that this thing has to be studied. Although they say they'll study it five years from now, you can't wait five years. Circumstances change.
That is what I wanted to put on the record, Mr. Chairman and honourable members, because I understand that all three parties are represented here. I want to thank you very much for allowing me to come here.
I asked to be here because from May 31, 1991, when I was appointed as a provincial court judge, to October of 2014, when I finished my term as lieutenant-governor of the province of New Brunswick, I was in a virtual sphere of silence. As a judge, you can't make comments on public issues, and definitely as a representative of Her Majesty you're not allowed to, so finally, then, I was relieved of this particular burden in October of 2014. I come here today saying that there should be great compassion for people who are ill, suffering, or facing death, but we all should also make their lives comfortable in those last stages.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, for listening to me. I want to wish you well, but I also want to let you know one thing. In my term as lieutenant-governor, I visited schools in New Brunswick. There are certain schools, believe it or not, that pray for parliamentarians and pray for judges every day, because it's part of their school regime. I was impressed. I didn't realize they were doing that.
Even today, as you're meeting here and as you continue your debate, you have people in certain schools in the province of New Brunswick who are praying for you, and prayer is powerful. We need prayer; we need a higher power, and we need a higher authority in order to make just decisions.
Merci beaucoup.