Mr. Speaker, with the Supreme Court's decision in Carter, Canadians were given notice that medical assistance in dying would effectively become legal in Canada. It was, hence, the responsibility of the government to put forward clear rules around who is eligible to obtain medical assistance in dying, what safeguards must be followed to protect vulnerable individuals, and to create a monitoring regime to ensure accountability, transparency, and public trust in the system. Federal legislation was also important to ensure that a consistent approach to medical assistance in dying would be available across Canada.
Bill C-14 is the result of extensive consultation over the past year with individuals, groups, and experts at home and abroad. It takes into account a range of interests, including personal autonomy and safeguards to protect the vulnerable. It also recognizes the diverse and personal ways in which individual Canadians arrive at the question of medical assistance in dying. It balances individual rights and informed conscience, and respects the professional ethics and conscience of physicians and medical practitioners.
This legislation also addresses and proposes broad action on an aspect of end-of-life care where Canadians, regardless of their views of medical assistance in dying, have clearly indicated that they want action, chiefly, palliative and hospice care. I had the pleasure yesterday to take part in Hike for Hospice in sunny Fredericton and I am proud of the overwhelming support demonstrated by community members for such a worthy and important cause.
As we address an issue as delicate as medical assistance in dying, we cannot act without a full and intentional movement toward expanding all options of end-of-life care. The government has made clear that as part of a multi-year health accord, financial resources to improve home care, including palliative care, will be of primary importance. Also, as we launch Mental Health Week today in Canada, we must recommit our efforts to providing greater care and support for those suffering from mental illness and deliver on clinical and community-based approaches that will allow greater access to mental well-being for Canadians who suffer from mental afflictions.
On December 11, a Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying was tasked with reviewing recent consultation activities. The committee also consulted with Canadians and stakeholders and made recommendations on the framework of a federal response to the Carter decision. The committee met 16 times, heard from 61 witnesses, received more than 100 briefs, and tabled its final report to Parliament on February 25.
I would like to extend my thanks for the work of the committee, as well as for the individual commitment demonstrated toward this issue from each and every committee member.
I, too, have heard from hundreds of people in the riding I represent, and have sought out wisdom and advice from leaders within the disability community who are calling for assurances that those with vulnerabilities will be safeguarded from outside influence in their personal decision-making; from the faith community, including trusted mentors and friends, who have encouraged me to reflect upon my own informed conscience in rendering a decision on this important matter; from the medical community, including leading voices, who have called for a sage and measured approach to the development of a framework around medical assistance in dying; and from those seeking a more liberalized approach, who may be dissatisfied with the framework that is proposed in front of us.
I have listened, I am listening, and I will continue to listen to people in the riding I represent. I have reflected, I am reflecting, and I will continue to reflect upon this important decision that will change the way Canadians consider end of life.
I approached this question like many others, with great humility, understanding that in a pluralistic society as rich and diverse as Canada's there will undoubtedly be those who feel that this legislation does not meet their world view. I wish to extend my empathy and understanding to them, and let them know that I, like all my colleagues, will continue to do my best for them.
I believe the ministers charged with crafting this legislation and the government as a whole have also approached this question with great sensitivity. The approach being taken is emblematic of a government that has listened to citizens, and will continue to listen to the wide diversity of opinion on this personal and challenging decision.
With this in mind, I wish to express my general comfort with the legislation before us. I would like to take the time to explain in greater depth the elements of the legislation and what it means for Canadians.
First, to allow access to medical assistance in dying in Canada, the Criminal Code would need to be amended so that doctors, nurse practitioners, and those who assist them can help eligible patients die without the risk of being charged with assisting a suicide or committing a homicide. There will also be safeguards to ensure that those who receive medical assistance in dying are eligible for it, can give their informed consent, and voluntarily requested assistance in dying.
A voluntary and informed request must be submitted in writing by the person in the presence of two independent witnesses, and a second medical opinion is required. No one aside from the person wishing to receive medical assistance in dying can make that voluntary request. This approach holds that the right to choose medical assistance in dying belongs only to the competent adult who would receive it. This is also necessary to protect vulnerable people.
A person who wants to access medical assistance in dying would have to meet the following criteria. They would have to be a mentally competent adult of 18 years or older. They would have to have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability, be in an advanced state of irreversible decline of capability, and experience enduring and intolerable suffering as a result of their medical condition. They would, in effect, have to be on a course toward end of life. Death would have to be reasonably foreseeable.
The proposed legislation holds that mature minors would not be eligible nor would people suffering solely from a mental illness. The government is, however, proposing an independent study of the legal, medical, and ethical issues related to medical assistance in dying for mature minors, for those suffering from a mental illness, and around advance directives.
Again, the bill includes protections to ensure that patients are eligible and have given their informed consent. There would be a mandatory waiting period of at least 15 days, and patients could withdraw their consent at any time.
Also, there is nothing in the proposed legislation that would compel a health care provider to provide medical assistance in dying or to refer a patient to another practitioner.
The proposed approach to this most difficult of questions does its best to recognize individual choice for adults who are suffering intolerably and for whom death is reasonably foreseeable. It seeks to affirm the inherent and equal value of every person's life. It has the goal of protecting vulnerable people and reaffirms society's goal with regard to preventing suicide. It is an approach that recognizes where we are as a society and as a people advancing in the world. It is respectful of the divergent voices of Canadians and it demonstrates flexibility in its ability to reassess and examine the issue of medical assistance in dying in the weeks, months, and years to come.
I wish to thank my constituents who have reached out to me on this important matter and the many more who, I know, have wrestled with this question internally.
Know that this Parliament and I will do our collective best to serve each one's interests and those of their neighbours on this and on all important matters.