I'm hearing what our colleague MP Manly has to say. We've certainly heard a lot of testimony in this committee from persons with disabilities or advocacy groups for those persons in Canada. They have a lot of concerns about the expansion of this legislation as proposed by the Liberals.
So far, every amendment we've tried to propose to either further protect persons with disabilities or give them some comfort level has been defeated, by the Liberal and NDP votes specifically.
It seems to me that this is a very reasonable addition. It's a clarifying addition. It's an amendment that I feel I could support. In light of Mr. Manly's comments about the timeliness that he has experienced in being able to connect people with further and other support services and consultations, this isn't a high onus. It doesn't change the effect of this legislation and what the Liberal government is proposing here, but it does give a comfort level. It is the reality on the ground.
In question period today Minister Lametti once again, in response to a question, said something to the effect that by the time people make this decision, there is no doubt in their minds, that they've gone through whatever it is they need to go through to process all of this and it's a done deal. However, we've heard testimony about transient suicidal ideation. We've heard testimony—actually, there are reports, which I've referenced before—about people in fact changing their minds.
Everyone is different. If we really believe in individual autonomy, then it seems to me we should make it very clear that people would have the opportunity and would be encouraged, to the extent it makes sense in their particular case, to consult with others and get all the support services they need.
The individuals are the ones driving this agenda. They would know whether they want to seek this. They would know whether they feel they would get comfort out of it. They may have already made up their minds but just have a little doubt and want to talk it out with someone else. There are so many different scenarios that could be played out.
It seems to me that there is a thoughtful suggestion in this amendment. When I hear that a group such as Inclusion Canada are good with this wording and perhaps even supported Mr. Manly in bringing the wording forward, that is very persuasive to me, given the testimony we've heard.
I don't frankly think it's a great idea for legislators to put forward legislation that virtually ignores a very important segment of Canadian society, which is persons with disabilities. They have made it very clear that they're reaching out to us and saying, please don't make us different from everyone else, but make amendments here and improve this legislation in a way that makes us at least more comfortable, so that we don't feel that we're being isolated or segmented out.
I don't see why we cannot answer that call, frankly.
With those comments, I'm supportive of this amendment. Thank you.