Mr. Speaker, indeed this is a heavy subject for most Canadians. Physician-assisted suicide is definitely weighty. There were laws that we thought were sufficient, but it is as a result of the Supreme Court deciding the law is not sufficient that we are in this predicament today of having to find some alternatives.
I will be speaking to some different issues. I would not say they are of the highest importance to me. I will speak about those issues a little later. However, I want to talk about a few of the issues that are not talked about as much. One of them is on page 11 of the bill, called “Deeming”. I will read from the act itself. It states:
For the purposes of this Act, if a member of the forces receives medical assistance in dying, that member is deemed to have died as a result of the illness, disease or disability for which they were determined to be entitled to receive that assistance
I will go to the next page, where it again says “Deeming”. This time it states:
For the purposes of this Act, if a member or a veteran receives medical assistance in dying, that member or veteran is deemed to have died as a result of the illness, disease or disability for which they were determined to be entitled to receive that assistance
I mention that today as a former member of the veterans affairs committee, which dealt with PTSD, with veterans who have experienced trauma as a result of war, as well as relatives who have suffered trauma and PTSD as a result of war. I am concerned about this clause in a dramatic way, due to the potential for it to be used as a way out for families. It could be a means of financial assurance, if the member decides it is a way out, that could provide sustenance for his or her family.
I feel it would open a door that was previously closed to members. We certainly respect the ones who have passed as a result of suicide, but I am concerned that this opens the door wider, to making it a somewhat legitimate exercise and to potentially doing it for families to receive benefit. We should be looking at more ways to help members of the forces and veterans with PTSD rather than giving them a doorway out.
The second issue I would say is a more significant argument for me, and that is the issue of compelling. Compelling has different forms. Compelling, as we heard from physicians who are friends of mine, and nurses, could be a doctor compelling a nurse to deliver a life-ending drug. Can a patient compel a doctor to end that patient's life? Does a senior feel compelled to end his or her life to lessen the financial burden to the family? Does a senior feel compelled to end his or her life to make room for others in hospital rooms and beds in our country?
I feel that there are a lot of arguments. I will first talk about the argument of a physician compelling a nurse. Certainly there is discussion within the bill to allow physicians to have the freedom to do what they wish to do based on their religious beliefs, or the basic belief that life is sacred and not wanting to take part in assisted dying. Most of us fully understand the way that the Supreme Court can be used as a tool. A citizen could use the Supreme Court as a tool if a doctor refused service.
If a doctor refused to assist a person to end his or her life, it would likely end up in a court, which I am sure will happen if this bill passes the way that it is. Doctors could be held to account, if a law is enacted that they have a responsibility to perform that duty for Canadian citizens. Likewise, if doctors feel compelled to perform that service, which is what we heard in testimony from doctors directly, doctors do not actually give the injection or do the duty of ending the life. It is passed on to another member of the medical staff, usually a nurse, and that person will be compelled by a doctor's order to deliver the life-ending treatment or drug. Those are huge issues, and any one of those breaks in the chain could potentially end up in a court. A particular member of medical staff would be ordered to enforce that care.
I will move on to the more general compelling of seniors and people who are ill in our society. I have two senior parents. May dad is 82 and my mom is 72. The last thing I would want would be for them to feel like they are a burden on our system. They have contributed all their lives. To this day, my dad still works as a carpenter out in the shop. He pays his taxes. A senior should not feel like he or she needs to end his or her life based on a health care system that needs more space or is just too expensive.
I love my parents, but that is not always the case across Canada. Different families do not agree as much as I do with my parents and there are frictions within families. Would some of these frictions within families be used to compel seniors to possibly end their lives because they have been made to feel they are a burden on our system? Certainly these are the what-if cases, but with 30 million people, these cases will arise, if they have not arisen already. It is deeply concerning to me that this is even an option.
Much has been said of late about the suicides in Attawapiskat and suicide in general and what the feelings are about suicide. I do not think we can sugar-coat it. We call it end of life and some other groups have called it different names, but it is suicide. It is the ending of someone's life.
What concerns me is an example of what could potentially happen. A group of individuals who feel they do not want to be on Earth anymore go into a physician's office and based on a psychiatrist's exam and review, they are warranted to end their lives. I am concerned this opens the door wide to an acceptance of suicide as a somewhat acceptable form of living in this world or ending one's life in this world. It is a huge concern for me.
Lastly, I will speak about why I do not think we need to be in this situation. It goes back to the notwithstanding clause. I had a conversation with a judge on a plane ride home to Vancouver. My comment to the judge was that as members of Parliament we were checked every four years during an election. Often we would see many different faces in this place. The people of Canada have checked us. Some have made it back and some have not. We see some new faces. They made it here because the people spoke.
What check is on the judiciary of our country? The response from this Supreme Court justice was that there was a check, the notwithstanding clause.
I know it is yeoman's work to even try to get this kind of law into some kind of acceptable form because of so many diversities, but we already have a law. It is the job of 338 members of the House of Commons to enact laws. It is the job of the Supreme Court to uphold those laws. My concern is that there seems to be a usurping of our particular body by the Supreme Court. I would challenge the government to look into that. It should look into whether we already have a law. A lot of us still accept the law for what it is. Rather than having a discussion about reforming and rewriting what is already there, we need to go back and really think seriously about it.
I certainly agree with most people here that palliative care needs to be better in Canada. We have all had passionate arguments about the sanctity of life. I believe all were created equal in this place.
However, we need to seriously think about either rewriting the law as it was, as Canadians have sent us here to do, or upholding the laws that are already in place by previous bodies of elected people to the House. We need to honour this place. This is the place where we make laws. It is not just we 338 individuals. We have been sent here to represent over 30 million people, and their voices need to be heard loud and clear.
It is a tough argument to have in this place. There are many issues on both sides that we all feel very passionate about, in whatever form that is, but we need to consider seriously upholding the laws currently in place.