Madam Speaker, I am rising today to participate in the third reading debate of Bill C-7. I want to recognize the very real and legitimate challenge here and the difficult questions that were raised by the Truchon decision, which declared that the reasonable foreseeable death criterion for accessing medical assistance in dying goes against the charter and is null and void. When we talk about the deadline in December that we are working toward, we are talking about the moment when the court decision will take effect and the criterion, regardless of whether Bill C-7 passes, will take effect. At that point, reasonable foreseeability of death will no longer be a condition for accessing medical assistance in dying.
That raises a lot of difficult questions. It raises a lot of questions about the nature of human dignity. Of course, one thing to consider in the long-standing debate on medical assistance in dying is the dignity provided to people who are experiencing severe suffering and know that it is not going to get better. There is a sense of autonomy that comes from being able to choose their own time to go and the conditions under which they go.
There is another really important side to human dignity, and we have heard some other members speak to it already today. It is the dignity of those who choose life and want to choose life. They have to know that in so doing they have the resources and the respect for their human rights to make that affirmation of life and to choose to go on.
I want to take some time to recognize that, for people in the disability community in Canada, this debate comes in a very difficult context. It comes in the context of decades of neglect and inadequate resourcing and support, and a recognition of the barriers they face in trying to live a full life and realize their potential. It comes in the context of the pandemic, during which there has been conversations about how to allocate scarce resources and a real worry, on the part of people living with disabilities, that decision-makers might not value their lives in the way they value the lives of others, which has to be scary.
When they looked for reassurance that the government had their backs and understood these concerns, what they saw over the first number of months of the pandemic, about six or seven months, was a lot of heel-dragging on a commitment to make a simple one-time payment to support people with disabilities regarding the added costs and difficulties of the pandemic. I can understand why that does not engender a lot of confidence that the government has their backs and understands their real concerns.
In light of the Truchon decision, the long-standing neglect of people living with disabilities and the heightened sense of urgency given the pandemic, I can definitely understand how this has become such a charged issue and understand the very strong feelings that people, especially in the disability community, are facing. They do not want to be faced with the terrible dilemma of having to choose between a life of poverty and suffering on the one hand and a premature death on the other hand.
There are certainly members in the House speaking today to one side of that dilemma, which is wanting to ensure that people are not forced into a premature death. However, I put it to the House that we cannot do that if we are not willing to address the other side of the dilemma, which is to recognize the overwhelming number of people in Canada living with disabilities who are forced into a life of poverty. There are a number of people living with disabilities who have managed to overcome a whole bunch of barriers to get gainful employment and support themselves and their families, and that is a wonderful thing. That is what I wish for all people living with disabilities for whom that is a possibility.
However, we also have to recognize that many people with disabilities are not going to have a full time job just like everybody else. There are barriers that simply will not permit that. That is why we see such a high number of people living with disabilities on various kinds of social assistance plans and other kinds of income support programs.
Those programs have been totally inadequate for allowing the people who depend on them for their income to live with dignity. When we talk about dignity, it is really important that we talk about this, human rights and the importance of recognizing that people living with disabilities have rights and deserve to live in dignity. It takes resources to do that.
I really want to take the time to put the emphasis on that side, because the court has made a decision about whether a reasonably foreseeable death can be part of the criteria for medical assistance in dying. The government chose not to appeal it. I cannot change the government's decision on that. The NDP cannot change the government's decision on that. However, what we can do is try to add to and take on the sense of urgency the government has had in getting this legislation through the House when the House has been sitting.
I take the point. There is some real legitimacy to the point that, as we all know, we could have had more time in the House to consider these questions. When members talk about the effect of prorogation on House time, they are quite right about it. We have seen some urgency from the government regarding the legislation, but we need to see that same urgency for putting the supports in place for people living with disabilities so that the overwhelming majority of people living with disabilities are not forced, by virtue of being on some kind of income support plan, to live a life of poverty.
That is why I was proud, as the NDP's disability inclusion critic, to write, alongside the member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, the government last week, calling for it to institute one national disability income support program that would cover people who are already receiving income support under the auspices of a disability program, whether it is through the provinces, the territories or the federal government. We want to set that at a rate of $2,200 a month to recognize that $2,000 a month is a reasonable standard, which many in the country recognized during the pandemic. It is not easy for everyone, for sure, but it is a reasonable standard of income. We have seen a larger consensus than ever on that.
We also need to recognize, as we did when the Canada emergency student benefit was established, that people living with disabilities do face additional costs. There was a differential for students living with disabilities. They were paid a little more in recognition of those additional costs. I think that $2,200 a month would accomplish that and would make sure that no matter where people in Canada, they have some kind of basic income that would allow them to put a roof over their head and get the basic necessities of life. Valuing life cannot just mean “not death”. It has to mean providing the resources for people to really live a life they value and that they feel allows them to meet their full potential.
That is not just a question of income. It is also a question of getting very deliberate and focused about an employment strategy to change the attitude of many employers who do not have experience with people living with disabilities. We can educate them about what they can do in the workplace to make it more friendly to people living with disabilities. It will help overcome some of those barriers and change attitudes in society generally.
It is also about supports, like investments in good public housing where rent is geared to income, so those who are not high-income people can still afford to be in good housing. It is about investing in good transportation options so that people living with disabilities who are not able to own or operate their own vehicle still have good options to get around the city. This helps with employment, but it also helps with socializing in times when we are able to do that.
If we want to talk about the value of life, these are things we not only have to talk about, but have to do. We have to do them with the same sense of urgency that the government has put on passing this legislation. I am very much looking forward to doing things in that urgent way, and the NDP will continue to push for this.