Madam Speaker, I am so pleased to be able to speak to Bill C-7, which seeks to amend Canada's medical assistance in dying legislation.
This is officially one of the hardest decisions I have had to make since entering politics, first at the municipal level in 2009 and then at the federal level. I never used to get my family involved in my decision-making. However, on this issue, I decided to get my wife and adult daughters to sit down with me at the kitchen table for a frank and serious family discussion.
Our government has been working on this bill since 2019. We have had discussions about the future and the choices that we need to make as parents. These discussions were extremely difficult. I know that this is an issue that hits very close to home for Canadians, but we do not talk about it in public very much. However, medical assistance in dying is a very complex and very serious issue for me.
Yesterday, when I came back from my run, a neighbour was waiting on my doorstep. We had an intense discussion, a very good discussion, on medical assistance in dying. He had just been diagnosed with ALS and was very emotional, which made me very emotional. He asked me if I had voted for or against the bill the last time. Because I understood that an individual's right to choose is very important, I voted in favour of the bill. This time too, I agree with the amendments proposed by the Quebec courts.
I have deviated somewhat from my speech, but events like these give us an opportunity to reflect on the reasons we are here. This subject has not been talked about very much in the House, and some opposition members have asked why it is up to all of us here to make these decisions. It just so happens that we chose to be decision-makers and that sometimes we have to make tough choices like this one.
We immediately embarked on an inclusive process with the provinces and territories in response to recent court rulings about MAID rules. We held extensive consultations. We talked to doctors, organizations, vulnerable people and eligible individuals. The consultations were part of our government's progressive approach to ensuring that the federal framework reflects evolving views and Canadians' needs. That is how we always make decisions here in the House. Our goal is always to improve Canadians' lives and be as fair as possible.
We were particularly focused on making sure that people with disabilities could express their views on the subject. People with disabilities are extremely important to me, given my past experience as parliamentary secretary to the minister responsible for persons with disabilities. That was an incredible experience, and we drafted the first accessibility act, which is near and dear to my heart.
Bill C-7 would amend the Criminal Code provisions respecting medical assistance in dying to provide greater autonomy and freedom of choice to eligible individuals seeking medical assistance in dying.
Protecting vulnerable individuals and respecting the right of people with disabilities to equality and dignity are essential considerations. More specifically, this bill would broaden medical assistance in dying to people with irremediable medical conditions who are in an irreversible decline but are not at the end of life.
The bill also proposes excluding persons whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness, introducing a host of safeguards for persons whose death is not reasonably foreseeable while maintaining and relaxing existing safeguards for persons whose death is reasonably foreseeable.
The bill also proposes permitting persons whose death is reasonably foreseeable and who were deemed eligible for medical assistance in dying to provide consent in advance of the time of the procedure even if they lose the capacity to consent prior to the day specified in the arrangement with the medical practitioner.
Supporting and advancing disability inclusion is not new for our government. From day one, we have been committed to achieving these objectives and have improved our programs to better respond to the needs of persons with disabilities. It should be noted that the Government of Canada fully respects the equality rights of Canadians with disabilities. That is why we have been working hard since 2015 to advance the accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities.
For example, in 2018, we acceded to the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This means that Canadians have additional recourse for filing a complaint with the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities if they believe their rights under the convention have been violated.
In July 2019, we passed the Accessible Canada Act, which we are in the process of bringing into force. This legislation is considered one of the most important advances in federal legislation on human rights for persons with disabilities in more than 30 years.
In 2019, we also launched the accessibility strategy for the public service of Canada, in order to make the public service more accessible and inclusive. In addition, we improved data collection, in particular regarding indigenous people with disabilities. We recognize that integrating people with disabilities is about more than simply passing a law, and we are working with these people and other stakeholders to combat stigmas and prejudices. The culture needs to change so that the significant contributions made by Canadians with disabilities are recognized and valued as much as those of other Canadians.
Bill C-7 gives vulnerable people new, concrete safeguards against pressure and coercion, to ensure that MAID remains an informed, voluntary decision.
Today, as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors, I see that this has once again become a hot topic in my riding and in our discussions. I see how important it is to give people the right to make their own end-of-life choices. Fundamentally, we hope to strike a fair balance between respecting the individual autonomy of people who request MAID and protecting vulnerable people. We want this measure to be as compassionate as possible.