Charlie Angus

[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 goodwill, 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?

[Criminal Code, May 2nd, 2016]

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

The reason Parliament has been put in this position by the Supreme Court is the complete lack of action by the Conservatives in dealing with this issue over a period of 10 years. The Conservatives cut the palliative care initiatives that were in place, took no movement on the issue of palliative care, and refused to deal with the fact that they knew the Supreme Court decision was coming.

The Supreme Court has now stepped into that vacuum and has put this Parliament and, I feel, all Canadians in a very difficult position, because if we do not have a law by June, we will have another legal vacuum in which this door could actually be blown open much wider.

The question is, is the role of this Parliament to do something positive, where we can assure that those who are sick and dying are able to access quality palliative care? We had pushed a motion through the House of Commons last session, and there was no money. The Conservatives and the former prime minister took no steps to put that into action.

We now have Motion No. 46 which talks about the need to establish palliative norms, working with the provinces, working to change the EI provisions so that families can get the support they need to take the pressure off them.

Is my colleague willing to accept a legal vacuum in June if this House does not move? Is he willing to work in a proactive manner with our party in establishing palliative care access so that we can actually present Canadians with more of a balance than simply the law on euthanasia?

[Indigenous Affairs, April 20th, 2016]

I would like to thank the minister for coming with me to meet with the youth in Attawapiskat and committing to build that youth centre. It is a profound moment.

However, the larger issue of the crisis in mental health services in indigenous communities remains. For example, there is only $350,000 for the mental wellness framework for the entire country. How many children is that expected to save?

My question is for the finance minister. He can respond to the crisis that has taken the lives of too many indigenous children across the country by putting those resource dollars into this budget now.

He has the power to act. Will he do it?

[Indigenous Affairs, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, we did not just get to this crisis by accident. The children have been dying on a daily basis across this country, dying in nurses stations from strep throat and asthma because government will not pay for the medication, dying by suicide because government will routinely turn down their pleas for mental health counselling. The current government has no new money for mental health or for health services. It has to stop. Where is the political will to invest in resources, in what is truly our greatest resource, our children? Where is that will to move today?

[Indigenous Affairs, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, with the government responding to the crisis in Attawapiskat, we are hearing from indigenous youth in other regions who are saying “Where are the resources for our community?” The crisis is extreme across this country, and band-aids will not work. The youth want action now, yet there were zero dollars in this budget to deal with the suicide crisis and zero new dollars to deal with indigenous mental health.

The current government has the power to act. The only thing missing is political will. Will it commit today to augment the funds to ensure that we can end the mental health crisis in all of the communities across this country?

[The Budget, April 14th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, there are serious gaps in this budget in terms of commitments to our country. One of the huge gaps that I see is in the area of Northern Ontario, where we have the Ring of Fire development. This development would be a transformative project for the economy of our entire region, not just in the coming years but in the coming generations.

Indigenous communities living in dire poverty in the Ring of Fire region are looking to participate, but they need the infrastructure, the roads, the support to build a project that would transform our economy.

The Kathleen Wynne government had demanded the old Conservative government put $1 billion into the project before the provincial Liberals would do anything, and of course the provincial Liberals have done nothing. Now the Kathleen Wynne Liberals are not asking the federal Liberals to put up a dime, and the government has lived up to that promise: the federal Liberals do not have a dime in the budget for a transformative resource development project that would involve indigenous communities and transform our economy.

I hear all this talk about infrastructure and how the Liberal government is looking to build an economy. Why, then, has it ignored one of the most important development projects in our nation, particularly in the north of Canada? There has been no consultation, and the government has given us no plan for our communities to survive economically.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 13th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all my colleagues who participated in the debate last night. This may be a transformative moment, but the youth need action now.

First, there is a need for a family doctor in Attawapiskat. It is a simple request. Help us with that.

Second, there is no new mental health funding for the communities. We need that.

Third, I would like to ask the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs to commit today to funding to empower indigenous youth, so they can start to look at how we can change programs, because after 140 years of failure and negligence and trauma, it is time we said that the youth will lead the way for the future.

[Situation in Indigenous Communities, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what I am hearing tonight is a desire to move beyond talk. We need to tell the people of Canada that the House of Commons can be transformative at historic moments, and I see the goodwill of all parties.

I want to relay a message that I received from Sarah Hookimaw, who is watching the live debate tonight. People are watching this back home. They are watching this in Indian country. She asked me to thank everyone because hope gets rekindled by the smallest spark. We can do a heck of a lot better than a small spark in this place. Otherwise, why are we here?

I want to ask my colleague an unorthodox question for all the young people in all the communities that have the ideas and hope. Will the government agree that we could put together some form of youth initiative, to start regional round tables where young people can come together and start to talk about their hopes and dreams? Then we can bring it to a national level, where they can address the Parliament of Canada to say what it will take, from their points of view, and give us the instructions, as the adults, to start moving forward? I am sure I have the support of my colleagues in the Conservative Party and the Green Party. I ask my hon. colleague if we can move forward with something unorthodox but transformative so we can follow through on these small sparks into a brighter future for all young people.