Charlie Angus

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Madam Speaker, it was very unfortunate that my colleague invoked the name of young Sheridan in the House in this debate. She did not die because she was suffering from an incurable illness like Lou Gehrig's disease. She died because of lazy indifference from federal and provincial officials, from poverty, and the fact that we do not have mental health workers. It took months to get her body home through the bureaucratic red tape, as the family could not deal with the trauma.

What we are dealing with here is our obligation before the Supreme Court. This is our job. However, it is extremely dangerous and unprofessional to invoke the suffering of those children as a way to say that we are not doing our job here.

We have a job to do before the Supreme Court, but we also have a job for those children, so a young child like Sheridan will never ever be denied mental health services because some official says we will not give it to them, or that they are going to have to live in a squalid shack because some official will not sign off on the housing agreements. Those are fundamentally different.

Knowing the family and what these children have gone through, it is very unfortunate that my colleague has used those stories to somehow conflate these two issues, which are fundamentally different.

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I have been listening with great interest, and this is a profound discussion that we are having tonight. The issue in terms of what people are able to access at end of life has been put before this House, not simply because of the Carter decision and not because of, as some colleagues have said, a narrow rewriting of the legislation. However, if we are going to rewrite this legislation, we have to deal with the huge shortfalls in end-of-life care for those who are wanting to live—the palliative-care needs of the sick and their families. Yet only 16% to 30% of Canadians are able to access quality palliative care. Only four provinces even have a palliative-care framework. It is the responsibility of the federal government to work with the provinces, and also to put the money on the table to say that palliative end-of-life choices are going to be available. However, we saw zero money in the budget from the current government.

If this bill is going to be in place in June, we are going to be in a situation in Canada where people will have technically the right to end their life if they are facing intolerable suffering, but they will not also share the same right to access quality health care for their family if they are living in under-serviced areas and patchwork areas. I am asking why the current government has not stepped forward in advance of this legislation to start dealing with the huge shortfalls we are facing in palliative care.

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Madam Speaker, one of the concerns we have as New Democrats is the issue of finding a balance on this legislation.

It was put forward and put upon the House by the Supreme Court. It has laid down a set of rules that we have to respond to, but if we are to move in that direction, the obvious question is, where are the standards for palliative care across this country?

There are many areas under provincial jurisdiction, but the federal government plays an important role in the delivery of health care and the federal government also has a major responsibility in areas of its own jurisdiction, and we have seen a lack of action.

We moved through the last Parliament a national palliative care strategy, but we saw no movement from the government in the budget. We are now hearing on this day that we are discussing medically assisted death that they will come forward at some point with all kinds of money, but there is nothing there now.

We have Motion No. 46 that will be coming before the House about establishing a coherent national palliative care strategy, working also to improve the EI benefits for caregivers so that families are given support, and also calling on the federal government to establish standards under federal jurisdiction.

I ask my hon. colleague what he believes the role of this Parliament is on moving forward with palliative care at this important time.

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my hon. colleague. I think what is disturbing me in the tone of the debate today is that there is an impression being created by the Conservatives that somehow the great moral crusade here is to actually defy the Supreme Court ruling. The Supreme Court ruling made a decision that has really tied the hands of Parliament. I may not agree with how it arrived at it or I may not agree with the fact that it has limited our ability to consult with Canadians, but one thing I am very aware of is that this right already exists now. It is already being practised by the courts, and if Parliament does not frame clear legislation with clear limits, there will be a legal vacuum come this summer in which the fears that my Conservative colleagues are raising may well be much more realized by other parties who step forward and go to the Supreme Court to say Parliament has failed in its fundamental duty to act.

Given the constraints put upon us by the Supreme Court, I would like to ask my hon. colleague what he feels will happen if Parliament does not come up with this bill to meet the timeline of the Supreme Court and leaves that legal vacuum that would exist across this country?

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my hon. colleague.

My concern with the lack of action on palliative care is that there was zero dollars in the budget. We have a promise now, but that is another year lost. I find it extraordinary to be talking about the right to die, but not the right to quality palliative care and the role the federal government has to play.

The other area that concerns me is the federal government has major health responsibilities in the delivery of health services to the military, the federal penitentiaries, and indigenous people. Yet, under section 12.1 of the first nations non-insured health benefits, when people are dying and have to be taken out of a reserve for palliative treatment, their loved ones are not allowed to go with them.

It says in federal regulations that the first reason to deny loved ones to be with their spouse at the end of life is compassion. Compassion is the number one rule for denying loved ones a chance to have palliative care. If the Liberals are serious about ending these cruel choices, they will tell that health minister to change the wording in the health guidelines now, so loved ones are never separated at the time of death.

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my hon. colleague. I find it very unfortunate, though, to use the suffering of the children in Attawapiskat in this debate.

I have heard it used by some people in the faith community. I find that it is a real debasement of the issue because of what the children are suffering there, with the lack of basic mental health services from the federal government, the intergenerational trauma of the residential schools, and the churches just walking away from their legal obligations.

Edmund Metatawabin, a survivor of St. Anne's Residential School, who knows these families well says that there is a direct highway between the injustice committed by the federal government and the effect it is having on these children. I can tell my colleague, being in the community, I hear that. I respect his judgment on many things and I am just asking that we be careful when we bring in something tied to this.

My concern in listening to my hon. colleague is that I do believe it is the role of Parliament to offer legislation on what is the right of life and death in this country, but the Supreme Court decision is acted.

I think it is incumbent upon us to be truthful with the Canadian people that if Parliament does not respond to this legislation, it will create a legal vacuum, and in that legal vacuum, all manner of agents may step forward, may be heard, and may be recognized by the Supreme Court. It is not enough to say that we can push back against the Supreme Court. If we do not meet this deadline, then a legal vacuum will ensue and much broader interpretations may result.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Human Rights Tribunal has made it clear that it is fed up with the government's inaction on dealing with the issue of racial discrimination against indigenous children. It points out that the Liberal budget failed children in the area of child welfare. The government continues to deny medical services to children and fights their families in court.

The tribunal has effectively put indigenous affairs under third party management because it simply does not trust the government. To the Prime Minister, as the minister of youth, will he respect this ruling and if so, what are the immediate steps the government will take to end the systemic discrimination against indigenous children in this country?

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, this issue affects all of us and we respect the very personal views that are brought forward.

What concerns me in the legislation that has been put before us is that we are not talking about an overall balance in end-of-life choices. We are talking about the very specific responses to the Carter decision. Eighty per cent of Canadians do not have access to quality palliative care. Therefore, 80% of Canadians facing end of life and their families do not have choices about good quality end-of-life care. In this vacuum, there must be a commitment by the federal government, but we have not seen that. We saw zero dollars in the budget for palliative care.

The New Democrats have Motion No. 46 before the House about moving forward not only on a palliative care strategy, but also taking responsibility for areas under federal jurisdiction. The federal government plays a huge role in the delivery of health services and it denies palliative care services often. There are also issues of changing EI provisions to help families.

Where is the government's commitment to the larger discussion on end of life in which Canadians need to be engaged?

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to my hon. colleague, and I am hearing the word “compassion” a great deal, and “options”. The problem is that most Canadians do not have those options because they do not have access to quality palliative care.

My colleague mentioned an election promise, but an election promise does not create it. This is done in the budget, and there were zero dollars for palliative care. This has to be spoken about in the House. Otherwise, everything else we are talking about is a fiction.

In areas of competence under federal jurisdiction, the word “compassion” strikes me because of section 12.1 of the non-insured health benefits for indigenous people. When they are being flown out to die, it says that under absolutely no circumstances will a loved one be allowed to travel with them. The federal government's rule for denying those from being with their loved ones who are dying is the word “compassion”. It is written into the federal guidelines that for these families, for compassionate reasons, their loved one has to die alone.

However, we can change this in the House. This is an area under federal jurisdiction. Will the Liberals look at dealing with this now so that we can be credible on this larger topic of compassionate choice at end of life?

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have great respect for the work my colleague has done on issues of palliative care over the years with the parliamentary committee.

We agree on many things and disagree on some things, as wont in the House. I share his frustration with the Supreme Court's decision on the timelines. I respect the Supreme Court's right and power to establish rules and laws where it believes Parliament has left a vacuum. However, the new government should have been given the opportunity, as a form of good will, to engage the population of our country in this very important discussion as it affects every person and cuts across party lines. It would have been fair to give the new government the ability to hear from Canadians. I agree with the member. We are now under a very strict timeline of which Canadians are watching but are not a part.

Given these are the limits that have been placed on us by the Supreme Court, my concern is the legal vacuum that happens if we as the House do not respond to this, and the dangers that legal vacuum will create with other individuals and organizations stepping forward knowing they can go to the Supreme Court if Parliament has not acted.

Therefore, has my colleague considered the danger of that legal vacuum if we do not have a law in place by the end of June?