Mr. Speaker, Bill C-7 seeks to amend medical assistance in dying by eliminating various safeguards on how and when the service is delivered and introducing others. Some of the changes to end-of-life decision-making include the removal of a 10-day waiting period between MAID requests and its administration, proceeding without immediate consent and the creation of a second track that allows individuals who do not meet the reasonably foreseeable death criteria to receive MAID.
I proudly voted against the second reading of Bill C-7 because it does not adequately protect Canadians from harm. The bill creates a pathway to end of life that would disproportionately impact the disabled without sufficiently encouraging the alternatives. It also does not include sufficient consideration for the right of doctors to refuse to provide death as a service. Any legislation that is introduced in Parliament requires a thorough review and that is especially true for bills that are literally matters of life or death. Bill C-7, which seeks to expand medical assistance in dying, is one of these bills.
I have been told that members of the justice committee have heard first-hand from disability advocates vehemently opposed to Bill C-7 and its rapid expansion of MAID, who argue it amounts to a “deadly form of discrimination”, making it easier for persons with disabilities to die than to live. It is shameful that in the Liberal government's rush to pass the bill before Christmas, it continues to neglect to address legitimate concerns being raised by persons with disabilities and medical professionals.
Conservatives are focused on ensuring that this type of legislation includes safeguards for the most vulnerable in our society as well as for the conscience rights of physicians and health professionals. The opposition has introduced a number of reasonable amendments to reinstate balances the government has removed including: first, reinstating the 10-day reflection period when death is reasonably foreseeable; second, maintaining the requirement for two independent witnesses when death is foreseeable; third, ensuring physicians have expertise in the patient's condition; fourth, extending the reflection period when death is not reasonably foreseeable; fifth, protecting vulnerable patients by requiring the patient to be the one who first requests information on medical assistance in dying; and sixth, protecting conscience rights for health care professionals.
It is essential that the government begin a separate and comprehensive parliamentary review of the original MAID legislation passed in 2016 and the state of palliative care in Canada. It is critical that this review analyzes how the government's MAID legislation negatively impacts persons with disabilities. I might add, such a review could have taken place over the summer, but instead the Liberal government shut down Parliament and prorogued it to hide their ethical scandals.
Medical assistance in dying is a very complex issue and evokes strong emotions. Recognizing we need more time to review the bill, my Conservative colleagues and I repeatedly proposed increasing the number of meetings dedicated to reviewing the bill and hearing from witnesses. Each time, the Liberals refused. Canada's Conservatives will continue to highlight the flaws in the government's MAID legislation that threatens the lives, rights and dignity of people with disabilities and work to protect vulnerable Canadians, especially persons with disabilities. Canadians deserve this much.
In the midst of a global pandemic, and at a time when people with disabilities are experiencing significant hardship, the government should be ensuring access to needed support, but it is offering people with disabilities an assisted death. To add insult to injury, Bill C-7 is being rushed through the parliamentary process. Given the implications of the bill, this is unconscionable.
The Government of Canada prides itself on championing inclusion and accessibility. With its current position of the reintroduction of the MAID legislation, the government reminds us that it has a glaring blind spot when it comes to its vision of a more inclusive Canada. This is not simply an unfortunate omission. This is a betrayal of the fundamental principles of inclusion, and one that puts the lives of people with disabilities at risk.
If the government is truly committed to building a more inclusive and accessible Canada, it must continue to restrict MAID to end-of-life circumstances and prevent MAID from being provided on the basis of having a disability. The government has a responsibility to protect the human rights and dignities of all Canadians, especially persons with disabilities.