Mr. Speaker, before I start, I would like to thank my friend from Yellowhead for his kind words on Fort McMurray. The devastation there is overwhelming. I would like the people there to know they have my prayers, and I am sure the thoughts and prayers of everyone in the House today.
I used to work in Fort McMurray. In fact, the very first hotel I managed just burned down. I know the people there will be counting on our support, and the people there know everyone in the House will be supporting them.
I rise today to discuss Bill C-14. This is obviously a very difficult issue for many people in the House, and I appreciate the views expressed here today and in yesterday's debate. Members oppose the bill on faith-based grounds, legal grounds, ethical grounds, and for other reasons. Others praise and support the bill.
I truly respect each member's personal contribution to the parliamentary debate. I would like to express my gratitude to the members of the Special Joint Committee on Physician-Assisted Dying. It is probably one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult, issues we are going to face in this Parliament.
We all know someone who has died in pain, a loved one, a child, a colleague. We have all seen the ravages of disease on the body of people we once saw only as the embodiment of life and hope. I have lost two of my most beloved uncles to cancer. One of these uncles was a lifer in the Royal Canadian Navy, who finished his career in service to Canada as base commander at CFB Esquimalt.
Commander Larry Dzioba, as any commander would be, was ready for his battle that would come. He fought cancer to the end and was still living independently, in relatively good health, up until the final two days before he passed away. I credit his strong Ukrainian stock for his strength and always think that he viewed pain as something to be tolerated.
Another uncle of mine, Michael McCauley, passed away after years of chemotherapy and radiation. In the end, he passed away at home in his bed surrounded by his family. He maintained his dignity until the very end.
Another very close friend of mine, my dear friend Peter, died of lung cancer a few years back. Peter and I worked together at the famed Deerhurst Resort in Muskoka, pre-gazebo days, and later together in Edmonton. Peter went from diagnosis to death in just three months, but his family and friends will forever be grateful to the wonderful staff at the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton, who ensured that Peter lived his final days as comfortably as possible and with dignity.
Unfortunately, however, far too many Canadians suffer due to inadequate palliative care. A 2015 study shows that anywhere from 15% to 30% of Canadians have access to adequate palliative care, and even at the highest levels of the spectrum, it is nowhere near enough.
This is where my concerns with Bill C-14 begin. From the bill's preamble, I quote the following:
Whereas it is desirable to have a consistent approach to medical assistance in dying across Canada
The government wishes to have a universal approach to assisted suicide in Canada, but does not state the need for universal access to palliative care across Canada. Members of the House have repeatedly commented on access to broadband Internet as a human right, yet there is nothing about a human right to palliative care. The government commits to broadband expansion in its 2016 budget, but if we search “palliative” in budget 2016, we get the message ''no matches were found''. It is disgraceful and shameful.
The health minister has said that $3 billion will be committed over four years for palliative care across the country, but there are no details on this. It is not listed once in the budget. There is no information on how it will be rolled out or how it will be paid for.
In fact, the $3 billion is probably the same $3 billion that the Liberals promised in their election campaign for increased home care services. It is not specifically for palliative care, which they are stating now, but for home care services.
Alarmingly, the health minister said in January, just before meeting with provincial health ministers, that "more money isn't necessarily the only solution”. The $3 billion is promised, yet it does not seem to exist anywhere in the budget and, according to the government, may not be necessary. I would argue that virtually every doctor who treats terminally ill patients would disagree.
It is paramount that the government states immediately how it will ensure equal access to proper palliative care across this country. It is unfathomable that the government would introduce assisted dying legislation without announcing a detailed strategy to prevent terminally ill Canadians from believing doctor-assisted suicide is their only option.
The government has a moral obligation to outline such a strategy and provide adequate funding immediately. It is not enough to simply spout off a few talking points, get in a few good sound bites, and then hope it is later forgotten.
The government has not done nearly enough to think through this bill in its haste to meet the Supreme Court's deadline. It has not begun to consult with the provinces on many of the responsibilities that will be downloaded onto them. For example, Alberta has been working on this for five months with no apparent consultation with the government.
I believe assisted suicide is not the answer to the complex problem of human suffering, whether it be physical, emotional, or even spiritual suffering. Medical advances specifically in pain management drugs have gone a long way in helping the suffering bear pain and keep their dignity. What is really needed above and beyond the medical advances and improvements in palliative care is a willingness to be involved in the lives of those who suffer. The reasonable answer to suffering is love, companionship, and hope for the better, hope for tomorrow, for hope allows us to continue on.
In addition to the philosophical objections that I have to this bill, there are many practical concerns. One is the lack of education on the matter of alternative methods for care of the terminally ill. For example, a survey of pre-licensure pain curricula in the health science faculties of 10 different Canadian universities showed that many would-be doctors receive less training in pain management than their counterparts in veterinary medicine. Meanwhile, a survey of over 1,100 doctors and nurses showed that those who treat fewer terminally ill patients, therefore knowing the least about symptom management, are most likely the ones in favour of assisted suicide, whereas those with the most experience with symptom management and end-of-life care tend to oppose it.
Dr. Max Chochinov, a noted specialist on palliative care, explains that the will to live is directly inverse to the amount of pain and that loss of dignity drives wanting to die and treatment of pain can improve sense of dignity.
I realize that we will have doctor-assisted suicide in Canada. The courts have decreed it, and society appears to demand it, but we in this House must ensure that we are doing everything to ensure we protect the vulnerable and enshrine the belief that all life is precious before we introduce a new law.
There are holes that must be addressed before Bill C-14 becomes law. Like many others in the House, I am disappointed that there are no provisions to protect the rights of doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners who object to participating in assisted dying or referring on conscience grounds. We must protect their rights regarding referrals as well.
My own doctor stated on the issue, “not selling you a drug but sending you to a street corner for drugs where you are murdered makes me just as complicit in your death.” I enjoy the bluntness of my doctor.
It is not enough to simply leave it to the provinces or to say that there is no problem because so far no health professional has been forced against his or her conscience to perform certain acts. The rights of health care professionals must be respected and must be enshrined in federal law. It has always been our society's custom to assist the suffering, to be by their side, and not to kill them. This practice must be reaffirmed, and a respectful approach to human life must be upheld, one that recognizes that the intrinsic worth with which every human being is endowed is not eradicated by suffering.
Life is precious and I believe that our nation's laws must reflect this fact. In the Gospel of Life, Pope John Paul II wrote very eloquently about the issue of assisted suicide. He stated that assisted suicide is a crime which no human law can claim to legitimize. However, he further stated that elected officials “could licitly support proposals aimed at limiting the harm done by such a law and at lessening its negative consequences at the level of general opinion and public morality. This does not in fact represent an illicit cooperation with an unjust law, but rather a legitimate and proper attempt to limit its evil aspects.”
Doctor-assisted suicide is already a reality in Canada. While I acknowledge that Bill C-14 reflects many of the safeguards of the dissenting report put forward by my Conservative colleagues on the special committee, it is still a flawed piece of legislation. It does not include an obligation to provide all possible palliative and pain management options to terminally ill patients. It does not mandate that funding be given and then maintained for end-of-life care. It does not guard the conscience rights of medical professionals. Beyond this, Bill C-14 does not offer a legitimate and proper attempt to limit the evil aspects of suicide. It is for these reasons that I will not be supporting this bill.