Mr. Speaker, the final petition I will present today is from Canadians from across the country who are concerned about coercion, intimidation and other forms of pressure used to force physicians, health care workers and health care institutions to become parties to assisted suicide or euthanasia either directly or through effective referral. This is a violation of people's fundamental rights of freedom of conscience.
The petitioners note that within Canadian medical associations and firms, there are over 24,000 physicians across the country who are willing to perform MAID and therefore there would be no need to force physicians who are not interested in performing MAID to comply with it. They also note that section 2 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects freedom of conscience.
The petitioners therefore call on the Government of Canada and this Parliament to enshrine in the Criminal Code protection of conscience rights for physicians and health care workers to ensure they are not coerced or intimated into performing euthanasia or assisted suicide.