Mr. Speaker, I have here a large petition of some 18,000 signatures largely collected by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
The petitioners draw attention to the fact that section 241 of the Criminal Code of Canada states that everyone who counsels a person to commit a suicide or abets a person to commit a suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence. The petitioners remind Parliament that the Supreme Court upheld section 241 in the Rodriguez decision, finding no charter right to suicide.
They call upon Parliament to retain section 241 of the Criminal Code, without changes, in order that Parliament not sanction or allow the counselling, aiding or abetting a suicide whether by personal action or by the Internet.