Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to stand in this place and participate in the debate, no matter what the subject matter. There are some debates that are more important than others, and I would venture to say that parliamentary historians will not be poring over the Hansard of the latest budget implementation act in five, 10, or 50 years from now. However, the debate we are taking part in today is not just any debate. It matters. How we as a Parliament, as a group of elected representatives, respond to it will have a profound impact on our society and on the value we place on life in the months and years ahead.
We are here to debate Bill C-14. The short title of the bill is the medical assistance in dying act. I would suggest that this title downplays the decision that we as parliamentarians are being asked to make. Bill C-14 would remove the criminal prohibitions for killing a person, or helping that person kill himself or herself, in certain situations. That is the harsh, stark reality of what we are dealing with in this bill. It is not just another medical procedure that we can sterilize with antiseptic and non-offensive language. This is a serious matter. It will result in a fundamental shift in Canadian society, and making the language more palatable and less jarring does not change that.
We are here because of the Supreme Court of Canada's Carter decision. While the court had previously ruled that the Criminal Code provisions on euthanasia and assisted suicide were constitutional and did not violate the charter, last February it reversed itself and struck down sections of the Criminal Code. It gave Parliament until June to come up with a law that respects its ruling and places restrictions on when and where euthanasia and assisted suicide can take place without criminal penalty.
The Council of Canadians with Disabilities and the Canadian Association for Community Living have produced an excellent commentary on the court's decision, warning that persons with disabilities, including people with serious mental and emotional disabilities, have been put at serious risk. They have also provided these sobering statistics:
...in Belgium, the number of Assisted Suicide deaths has increased an average of 47.77% annually since 2003, and in the Netherlands it has increased 64.13% since 1995, with no end in sight to this increase.
They have called upon Parliament to “place crucial safeguards on the Court’s judgment to limit access to assisted suicide”.
Unfortunately, the joint parliamentary committee report on assisted suicide went the other way, suggesting that doctor-assisted suicide should even be made available to minor children and those struggling with mental illnesses. As a result, Conservative MPs on the committee filed a dissenting report recommending stronger protections for the vulnerable. Thankfully, most of their recommendations have made their way into Bill C-14.
I have heard from hundreds of my constituents who oppose assisted suicide and euthanasia. They fundamentally believe that the Supreme Court's ruling and this bill will lead us down a slippery slope. Some oppose it on religious grounds, believing in the sanctity of life at all stages. Others oppose it for a variety of logical or ethical reasons.
I have also been contacted by some constituents who support the concept of euthanasia in principle and in certain circumstances. Having myself watched a number of family members and friends ranging in age from 13 to 85 die from cancer over the last few years, I understand the desire to ease the suffering of those we love as much as possible at the end of their lives. I believe that, instead of considering euthanasia and assisted suicide as a desired way to provide relief to dying patients, the federal government should be doing more, in concert with the provinces, to promote and expand comprehensive palliative care services right across the country.
Indeed, we voted nearly unanimously for expanded palliative care services and a plan in the last Parliament. During the election campaign, the government promised to inject $3 billion into palliative care. However, its budget did not include a dollar of funding or a mention of it coming anytime soon. The Minister of Health referenced her commitment to palliative care again today in question period. However, words are not enough. We need action, and it should have been a companion to this legislation, not an afterthought.
I want to talk about my main concern with assisted suicide as it relates to this bill and the ruling by the Supreme Court.
We need to continue the national conversation about improving our mental health system of care, which is currently failing too many Canadians. Mental Health Week starts today. The Canadian Mental Health Association is encouraging us to get loud on ending the stigma around mental illness.
Many of us have participated in, and will participate in, events this week to do just that. We put on green ribbons. We have attended champions of mental health dinners. We celebrate those who have spoken out and shared their stories of overcoming the darkness in which they have often lived for years. We beg people struggling with mental illness to reach out. We tell them that help is available, and it is. We grieve whenever individuals take their own life as a result of their mental illness.
Indeed, we have had many debates in the House, with heartfelt speeches by members on all sides, trying to figure out how we can best support those struggling with mental illness. Why did we do that? It is because we believe we must provide hope for those who are suffering. We believe that every life is worth saving and that those with mental illness can be treated, helped, and hopefully made well again.
We are told we should, as parliamentarians, separate assisted suicide from suicide brought on by mental illness. We should not be under the impression that we get to choose whether these two issues will be conflated or not. If assisted suicide becomes normalized, we should not be surprised if societal attitudes on other types of suicide change as well.
I recognize that mental illness is currently excluded from permissible cases for assisted suicide or euthanasia, but the government has said it will be embarking on further studies to look at the unique implications of situations where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition. Indeed, Liberals mentioned their intention to move forward on this study at the technical briefing on Bill C-14.
Why would the government want to study this matter further if not to bring it forward as a future amendment to the bill? We cannot allow the door to be opened even a crack to allow for those suffering from mental illness to be able to access physician-assisted suicide.
I recently spoke to someone who was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder about the bill. This person attempted to be well with every tool available, and shared the following with me:
My disease is a challenge every single day of my life. Sometimes I work to keep the symptoms at bay from minute to minute. Suffering is a given. And yet, I have much joy and hope, so much to live for. But what if I get really sick, what if I can not manage for an extended period and fall into a deep unbearable depression? Do I need to write an advanced directive to my doctor, asking them explicitly not to allow me access to euthanasia? To ask them to help me fight for my life, even if I can't do that in my moment of total despair?
We need to say it loud and clear that suicide is not the answer for mental illness, whether it is medically assisted or not.
I know that my time is short, so I will move on to another concern I have, and that is the possibility of having two nurse practitioners to sign off on assisted suicide or euthanasia requests for a patient. Nurse practitioners play a vital role in many remote, rural, and northern communities, but when we are dealing with a matter this serious, this permanent, with these types of consequences, I believe that not only should two doctors be required to sign off but that there should be a requirement for a psychological examination or independent oversight from a social worker to be done on patients before they can access assisted suicide or euthanasia.
This would provide an additional level of protection to ensure that patients are truly capable of making decisions with respect to their health and that the request to end their life was not made as a result of external pressure as is mentioned in section 241.2 of the bill.
Finally, Bill C-14 does not enshrine the legal rights of medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and caregivers to opt out of providing assisted suicide services or referrals if their personal conscience, beliefs, or ethics do not permit them to do so. This is a critical flaw.
As the bill does not adequately protect vulnerable people and does not adequately protect the conscience rights of medical professions, unfortunately, I cannot support it.