Mr. Speaker, the minister made reference to comments made at second reading stage. She also spoke about the importance of listening to physicians.
Quebec has been leading the way on this issue, so I think that the government should give great credence to the Collège des médecins du Québec. With respect to the legal void that the minister is invoking today as a reason to rush the debate, Dr. Yves Robert, the secretary of the Collège des médecins du Québec, said:
This is an artificial deadline. It is not true to say that there would be a legal void. The conditions imposed by the Supreme Court would serve as a legal framework if there was no federal law. [The Supreme Court] struck down the sections of the Criminal Code prohibiting a physician from assisting a grievously ill patient in dying.
This will still be true on June 7. Why is the government in such a rush to prevent parliamentarians from speaking to such an important issue?