Mr. Speaker, this issue affects all of us and we respect the very personal views that are brought forward.
What concerns me in the legislation that has been put before us is that we are not talking about an overall balance in end-of-life choices. We are talking about the very specific responses to the Carter decision. Eighty per cent of Canadians do not have access to quality palliative care. Therefore, 80% of Canadians facing end of life and their families do not have choices about good quality end-of-life care. In this vacuum, there must be a commitment by the federal government, but we have not seen that. We saw zero dollars in the budget for palliative care.
The New Democrats have Motion No. 46 before the House about moving forward not only on a palliative care strategy, but also taking responsibility for areas under federal jurisdiction. The federal government plays a huge role in the delivery of health services and it denies palliative care services often. There are also issues of changing EI provisions to help families.
Where is the government's commitment to the larger discussion on end of life in which Canadians need to be engaged?