Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak to this motion. I will, for the record, read the motion since I am the first to speak this afternoon. It states:
That, in the opinion of the House, for greater certainty, the government should take steps to ensure that counselling a person to commit suicide or aiding or abetting a person to commit suicide is an offence under section 241 of the Criminal Code, regardless of the means used to counsel or aid or abet including via telecommunications, the Internet or a computer system.
This area is complex and there would be issues in prosecuting such an offence and obtaining a conviction. However, from a public policy point of view, I am prepared to support the motion and vote in favour of it. As is contained within the motion, it is now part of the Criminal Code, pursuant to section 241, but the motion asks for that particular section to be further clarified.
Suicide is a difficult issue to deal with and I do not think anyone who does not come from a family that has experienced it really cannot imagine the difficulty that would ensue. The causes and contributing factors are numerous and I suggest is ill understood by society as a whole. Each person is unique. There is no single reason and the circumstances are extremely complex.
In any situation where individual residents of Canada are contemplating such an act, I suggest they need assistance but not with engaging in the act itself. That is the underlying purpose of section 241 of the Criminal Code.
I would also suggest that mental health issues are predominant factors. We are talking about an area of health care that is probably the least understood of known illnesses. Though I believe that as a society we know more now than we did 10 or 15 years ago, we have an obligation to become more aware, knowledgeable, responsive and perceptive.
I support zero tolerance on this issue. We should not in any way get on the slippery slope. As a society, we should send a very clear message that any action contemplated or envisaged in this motion by section 241 of the Criminal Code should clearly not in any way be sanctioned by society. In fact, any action that aids, abets or counsels any person in the act of suicide should be subject to criminal sanctions.
I understand the mover has been prompted by the Nadia Kajouji case. I have read the media reports on that case. It is extremely disturbing. A lot of people ask why charges were not laid. I do not know all the facts or why charges were not laid. Obviously there were some interjurisdictional issues that had to be dealt with and it appeared to me maybe some mental health issues with the person who committed the alleged offence.
Most states have similar legislation in the United States, although my research found that prosecutions are extremely rare. It is not an easy area to prosecute, but that does not allow us as parliamentarians or makers of the law to shy away from this issue. In fact, the opposite I suggest is true.
The present section 241 reads:
Every one who
(a) counsels a person to commit suicide, or
(b) aids or abets a person to commit suicide,
whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding fourteen years.
It is there, but this motion would broaden it. It would go into electronic communications, the Internet, and so on.
We as members of this House should support the motion and let it proceed for further study. If there is any way that section 241 can be enhanced or strengthened to give police and prosecutors more tools to go after anyone who would commit such an act, then I stand here today in support of it.
My remarks are going to be fairly limited. I just went over what I think of this particular motion. It is something that the House should support. From a public policy point of view, it makes sense. It is complex. It is a little complicated. When we get into anything with the Internet and criminal prosecutions, it can become complicated. We are not into a simple matter but, on the other hand, it is not an issue we should shy away from.
For those reasons, I will be supporting the motion when it comes to a vote.