Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak today to the two amendments moved by the member for St. Albert—Edmonton and to the impacts of Bill C-7, an act to amend the Criminal Code respecting medical assistance in dying.
When I first rose to speak to the bill a month ago, I stressed the importance of a careful, diligent review of the legislation. The bill is crucial to Canadians, and what could be more important than matters that affect life and death?
Unfortunately, through my observations, research and participation as a member of the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, what I have witnessed falls well short of the thorough appraisal for which I had hoped.
The committee heard approximately eight hours of testimony on this profound legislation, a bill that would make Canada's MAID regime among the most permissive in the world. On two occasions my Conservative colleagues moved for additional days of witness testimony. We asked first for two days. It was voted down. We then asked for one day. Again, it was voted down.
November is Indigenous Disability Awareness Month. I am sad to say that in studying Bill C-7, the committee did not take the time to hear from a single representative of the indigenous community. This is a travesty and we should all be ashamed. In the eight hours we had, we heard from both MAID practitioners and many doctors and advocates for persons with disabilities who passionately opposed Bill C-7.
Today, in the House, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice stated that Bill C-7 took into account the autonomy and dignity of the disability community. Persons with disabilities in Canada overwhelmingly disagree. Who are we to deny their lived reality and ignore their personal experiences?
Roger Foley, who suffers from a severe neurodegenerative illness, testified about the coercive pressures he had personally faced to choose MAID. He told the committee his health care needs were neglected and that he felt pressure by medical staff who specifically raised MAID as an option.
We heard from Dr. Ramona Coelho, who practises home care for many vulnerable patients. She explained that she had observed transient suicidal ideation in her patients, meaning while they sometimes have thoughts about suicide or wanting to die, with good supports, they often later choose to live. In highlighting the problem with the bill's 90-day period for individuals for whom death would not be imminent, Dr. Coelho explained that many treatments had waiting lists longer than 90 days. She also urged the committee to adopt a conscience amendment that would protect doctors and other health care professionals who did not want to participate in Canada's MAID regime.
Dr. Leonie Herx, Associate Professor and Head of Palliative Care at Queen's University, told the committee that the elimination of the 10-day waiting period would not allow time for a person who might have a transient death wish to change his or her mind, adding that patients often changed their minds when they were shown proper care. Dr. Herx also spoke to the witness requirement. She noted that having two witnesses helped ensure individuals were not coerced into choosing MAID. Specific examples of such coercion are known.
We heard there were not enough protections for persons with disabilities from Bonnie Brayton, national executive director of DisAbled Women's Network of Canada. Dr. Catherine Frazee, Professor Emerita, School of Disability Studies, Ryerson University, asked why persons with disabilities were being singled out by the legislation. It is a valid question.
Krista Carr, executive vice president of Inclusion Canada, told the committee, “The disability community is appalled that Bill C-7 would allow people with a disability to have their lives ended when they are suffering but not dying.” She added that every national disability organization disagreed with Bill C-7.
We heard from Dr. Heidi Janz, representing the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. She advocated for better monitoring of the MAID program, keeping the 10-day reflection period and two witness requirement and adding a condition that MAID must first be brought up by the patient, not the doctor. People do change their minds. Putting thoughts of death into a patient's mind can be very dangerous to his or her possible recovery.
David Roberge, representing the Canadian Bar Association, asked the committee to clarify what constitutes reasonably foreseeable death, noting the current law has caused significant uncertainty in practice. This is not defined in the legislation.
We also heard from Michel Racicot, a lawyer from Living with Dignity, who told us the Truchon decision should have been appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, which I fundamentally agree with. We are making what some have called life-shattering changes to a MAID regime, which has not been properly studied since it was first introduced five years ago, based on a Quebec Superior Court decision that was not appealed to the Quebec Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court of Canada. The government has expanded its bill far past that original court decision.
Based on the text of the bill before us, apparently not all parties heard the same testimony. My Conservative colleagues and I proposed several common-sense amendments, as did the Green Party and the Bloc Québécois. These amendments sought to add safeguards to Canada's MAID regime to protect Canada's most vulnerable populations at moments of peak vulnerability, and would add reporting requirements to track MAID in Canada so we could properly review the program and better assess its flaws. This reporting was woefully unavailable as we studied this bill. At nearly every turn, the Liberals voted against these amendments.
The Conservatives proposed keeping safeguards from the 2016 legislation, passed by a Liberal majority government, such as requiring that MAID requests be signed and dated before two independent witnesses, and that Canadians choosing MAID receive a 10-day reflection period that would afford a final opportunity to deliberate the irreversible action of ending one's life. The Liberals voted against both.
When our 10-day reflection period was voted down, we proposed a period of seven days. Again, the Liberals voted against it. Unlike the previous MAID regime enacted in 2016, this bill extends the availability of MAID to those whose death is not reasonably foreseeable and introduces a 90-day waiting period before the end-of-life procedure may be carried out.
We proposed extending the period to 120 days to allow patients more time to see doctors, consider available treatments and see what their lives could be like with the proper supports in place. The Liberals voted against that.
We then tried to at least clarify the specific event that would trigger the beginning of the 90-day period. The Liberals voted against that, too.
The Conservatives were not the only party to listen to the testimony of doctors and people with disabilities advocating for safeguards. I applaud the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith for proposing an amendment that would require individuals considering MAID, when death is not imminent, to receive a consultation with a palliative care professional. The member also proposed that the living conditions of persons requesting MAID, and the care made available to them, be recorded for program assessment purposes. The Liberals voted against that.
I also thank the member for Montcalm for two thoughtful amendments. One sought to provide clarity around the ambiguous phrase “reasonably foreseeable death” by drawing the line at having one year to live. The second asked for a review of Canada's MAID regime within 12 months of royal assent. As members can guess, the Liberals voted against both.
A system that does not seriously consider safeguards and reporting requirements, and that does not protect health care professionals, is broken before it begins. We heard time and again that these changes are essential. The Liberal government simply will not listen.
We are left with only one independent witness, and no reflection period for those facing imminent death; a 90-day waiting period, with no clear start date; a bill that does not require a consultation with a palliative care professional, and does not clearly outline what constitutes reasonably foreseeable death; and a bill that does not necessitate the tracking of living conditions and available treatment for those who choose MAID, nor a mandated review of the program within a year. Quite frankly, Canadians should be outraged.
I am disappointed this bill is being rushed through amid a pandemic because the Liberals chose to prorogue Parliament last summer and chose not to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada. I am appalled this bill requires fewer witnesses to end life than are required to execute a will. I am distressed that this bill does not address the medical professionals—