Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to congratulate and thank my colleague, the hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île, who, for a third time, is introducing this bill concerning the right to die with dignity. We could call it the freedom to die with dignity. Clearly, for many people, when they hear that, they hear “suicide”, “assisted suicide” or “euthanasia”, and yes, it makes us shiver, because we have probably all known, every one of the 308 members have probably known someone directly or indirectly who has committed suicide, although no one expected it. We are always surprised. That person was probably suffering, suffering more than anyone can imagine.
We now have resources to help these people, but we have to find them and help them, for they will continue to suffer until we help them. Getting to the point of assisted suicide, this means that the someone is suffering, and there are situations in which there is nothing we can do. That person is suffering, and is becoming something that he or she never thought possible, bent over in pain, or often not bent over, but bedridden and suffering for weeks and months on end, which to that person seems like an eternity. This bill does not seek to eliminate people who are suffering. That is not what we are asking for; rather, we are seeking a right for these people, people who have all their faculties about them, who are suffering, who are aware of their suffering and who want to escape it. These people could commit suicide on their own and no one could stop them. However, some people have philosophical or religious considerations. Philosophy and religion eventually cross paths.
I can say that in ancient times, the Greeks and the Romans were able to bring the issue of suicide out into the open and ensure that it was part of public discourse and debate. That was in ancient times. They decided to discuss it honestly and openly, to debate the matter. Intolerance of suicide began to take root in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and was heightened under the influence of Christianity. Naturally we do not wish to go against people's beliefs. However, we are talking about the right to die with dignity. Some people fear that we are confusing palliative care with assisted suicide, that we are taking sides.
I have experienced this suffering. Who among us has not gone through the experience of watching a loved one die of cancer? Who has not experienced that? If I look at some of the reactions, what is happening now is not any better than what we are asking for. What we are asking for is to allow people to make a free and informed choice. You have probably all seen a loved one go through cancer. At a certain point, the suffering is intolerable. Of course the person is given morphine. At first things are better, but in the long run it is not enough. What to do? How long do we let them lie there unconscious? Are the doctors not somehow assisting them? Some people have a strong heart and their life, which they are no longer conscious of, will continue for as long as their heart beats.
My father, who died at age 68, started having strokes at age 63, shortly after he retired.
He had various handicaps in addition to Alzheimer's disease. Of course there came a time when he had to be hospitalized. He was bedridden and unconscious for weeks, months. My father was strong and he had a healthy heart despite the fact that he was unconscious. It is normal for a human body to want to continue living.
We say that we want what is best for society, yet the fact that we refuse to speak openly and honestly about this issue raises a question. How can we be thinking of what is best for society when confronted with an individual in the final stages of a terminal illness who knows that they will die sooner or later and asks to die with dignity, thereby minimizing their own suffering and that of the people close to them?
I went through a second experience because I was also there when my father-in-law died in my home. He had been receiving palliative care. CLSC staff came to take care of him regularly. The same thing happened: doctors said that they might be able to help the end come sooner. In that case, the patient did not make a request.
This bill covers requests by lucid individuals. If a sick but lucid person decides to end their life with dignity—and everyone knows that they are going to die anyway—who am I to refuse?
We know that such pacts are becoming more and more common. When people know that they cannot end their own lives, they ask another person to help them in the event it becomes necessary. It is not very nice to be asked to do this kind of thing. How heartbreaking. But if there is a legal framework and people can make an informed choice, what right do we have to refuse them? Who am I to decide whether a human being should live or die? I believe that only the dying person has the right to decide whether they want to live or die.
I am certain that if we do not have this debate, more and more cases will come before the courts. People will be faced with such situations and, out of compassion, will decide that they cannot continue to watch loved ones suffer and that they must help them because their loved ones have asked for their help. Who am I to decide that someone will continue to suffer, continue to be bedridden, continue to decline, continue to no longer be the person they once were and no longer know where they are, even though that person asked me to do something for them if this sort of situation should occur?
In my opinion, we, the 308 members of this House, have a duty to consider this issue. I am not trying to convince the members to say yes so that this bill becomes law tomorrow morning. What I am trying to do is convince them to consider, discuss, debate and improve this bill. In the end, it is not up to us to choose. It is up to the person to say lucidly that, in the event something should happen, they want to have control over their life and, ideally, their death as well.