Christine Moore

[Department of Public Works and Government Services Act, May 11th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to speak to a bill that has to do with community benefit. Community benefit is extremely important to small rural communities.

Some members come from ridings similar to mine, ridings covering a lot of land, often with a hundred or so small municipalities. When the federal government chooses to invest locally, hire local companies and workers, or purchase materials locally, it can make all the difference for these communities, especially those that are fighting their decline every day. Many of those communities have lost infrastructure over the years. Accordingly, it is worthwhile to focus on as much community benefit as possible.

Although I support the principle of my colleague's bill, I think that some points could be improved or clarified. That is why I want to share my thoughts with him. If he chooses to present amendments to his bill in committee to improve it, he will have some possible solutions to make it more effective.

I want to emphasize that when it comes to community benefits the bill says:

The Minister may, before awarding a contract for the construction, maintenance or repair of public works, federal real property or federal immovables, require bidders on the proposal to provide information on the community benefits that the project will provide.

Note that it says “may”. It is not mandatory. The circumstances are not defined. One of the problems I see with the bill is that it is not clear on whether the bidder is required to provide such information. It depends on what side of the bed the minister wakes up that morning. If he gets up on the left side, he will require that information, but if he gets up on the right side he will say it is not necessary. That is a problem. If we do not define the criteria describing the circumstances under which it would be appropriate to require the information, then we have a big problem. Then we end up with another bill that gives more power to the minister and we do not want that.

When stable, reliable, well-known criteria are adopted, we avoid the problem of wondering why one project had a community benefits analysis and another project did not. That is one of the first problems I see with this bill.

Once an analysis is underway and the minister has asked about the community benefits, we have no idea how that information will be used. Is it just a potential piece of information for the minister or his team at Public Works and Government Services? Will this really add points on the project evaluation grid? That is a problem. The minister is asking for something without any real criteria on which to base the request. What is more, we do not know whether the information requested will actually be considered when the time comes to determine which project to choose. It is a problem.

This is about more transparency for governments, but in the end, disclosing why they want to know about community benefits or why not is discretionary. Choosing to factor something into the analysis or not is discretionary. We have to consider that. I think it is interesting, but I would not want people asking for that information for basically no good reason. If, ultimately, community benefits are not factored into the decision to approve or reject a proposal, then why bother asking for that information initially when it only complicates things?

The member opposite really should explain that better if he wants to improve his bill.

Furthermore, there is no way to know if there is any obligation to keep these promises. Unless someone makes an access to information request about potential community benefits for each project according to various bidders, there is no way of knowing. However, since these are private bids, I am not even sure whether that information can even be obtained under the Access to Information Act. There is no obligation to disclose whether promises were duly kept.

Imagine that a number of companies have analyzed the benefits that their project would generate and that one company is chosen. Under the bill, the minister could ask for a report in order to find out whether the work generated community benefits. That report would have to be tabled in Parliament before the end of the fiscal year. However, we would not know whether the community benefits that were created actually correspond to the list of potential benefits that was submitted. We would not know whether the bidder was actually meeting its obligations in terms of community benefits. We would not know whether the bidder conducted a serious analysis of the potential community benefits or whether it merely exaggerated the community benefits a bit to increase its chances of being awarded the contract. That could also be a problem.

I believe that, when we ask about the potential community benefits, we need to ensure that we closely monitor the situation and that commitments are kept. Community benefits have an important impact on the economy, particularly in small communities. When there is a major construction project, the small restaurants and services nearby often reap the benefits. We also need to be able to maintain a certain expertise and fully understand the regional characteristics related to the project.

The problem I see with this bill is that the various parts are not connected. It is not a continuous process. Bidders are asked about community benefit, but once the project is complete, no one makes sure that this benefit truly exists. Furthermore, the minister is not required to ask about community benefit once the project is complete.

The same is true of the report to Parliament. There is a problem with continuity, from the bidding stage to the results stage.

I hope that my colleague has taken note of my comments, since they can help him improve his bill when it is sent to committee.

[Petitions, May 10th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present my petition to eliminate the tax on essential baby products.

In my opinion, lots of products, such as frozen pizzas and maraschino cherries, are not essential. There is no federal tax on those products, but people have to pay tax on essential baby products such as diapers. I think it is only logical to get rid of the tax on basic baby care items, as well as breastfeeding products as a way to promote breastfeeding in Canada.

I sincerely hope that members will heed the petitioners and eliminate the federal tax on these products.

[Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, speaking to this bill was very important to me. As we have heard, it will save lives.

I also want to thank my colleagues who have already talked about the bill, since many of them shared some very emotional personal experiences.

When a loved one dies of cancer, it might be easier to talk about than when a family member dies of a drug overdose. Often we are more embarrassed to talk about that.

However, it is important to do so and to point out that this problem affects a lot of people, even people from good families who seem to be fine. This problem really affects everyone.

When I was 15, I lost a cousin. He died of a PCP overdose. PCP is commonly used in veterinary medicine, but unfortunately, it caused a lot of devastation around me when I was a teenager. It was a very difficult period in my life. Losing my cousin was very painful.

Since I do not know all the details, I cannot say whether such a bill would have saved his life, but I think that in situations like his, it is important that other people are not afraid to call an ambulance.

Unfortunately, young people, especially, are afraid they will get arrested or that their parents will find out what happened. They are very scared. Telling those young people that they have nothing to worry about in this type of situation could truly save lives. That is why it is important to pass this bill.

Another reason why it is important to pass the bill is that it would help health care professionals in identifying the substances involved. There are far more synthetic drugs on the market than ever and it is extremely complicated. The treatment is not necessarily the same every time. It depends on the drug the person used.

Someone on site needs to be able to quickly tell the ambulance attendants and the police what the person in distress consumed. That someone cannot be afraid to reveal that information, first hesitating and then finally after 15 minutes of interrogation saying that the person took something else.

The first responders have to be able to tell people that they have nothing to fear, that they will not be charged with anything, that they will be protected, and that they have to quickly say what the person consumed so that treatment can be administered as soon as possible.

There are various antidotes on the market for different substances, but those antidotes have to be administered very quickly in order to prevent unfortunate consequences.

This bill would also help health care professionals identify the substance, which is another important factor to consider in overdose cases. People must be able to respond quickly and need to know what medical treatment is required.

Another factor, which may be more specific to rural areas, is access to ambulance services. We all know that more and more parties are organized in isolated areas or places that are not necessarily accessible.

If an ambulance or the police cannot arrive on the scene promptly and there is an additional delay because people do not dare make that call, and then once responders arrive, people are reluctant to say what substances were consumed or what exactly happened, the response time increases tremendously.

Ensuring that someone will promptly call to report that an individual has overdosed and needs help and that the substance can be quickly identified will somewhat reduce the challenge faced by ambulance services in rural areas.

We cannot control or change the fact that some towns are further away from hospitals and ambulances than others. However, if we can at least reduce the response time, we can save lives.

As members know, I am a nurse. I decided to practise primarily in intensive care and emergency. That is really what I enjoy the most. I have seen cases of overdose, which, unfortunately, are often due to a mixture of substances.

It got so that I dreaded Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. For nurses, the night of Saint-Jean-Baptiste is really one of the worst nights to work. Every year, we have to intubate teenagers to save their lives at the last minute. Unfortunately, on big party days like that, teenagers are nervous and scared of getting caught, and they might leave someone who is a bit too drunk alone somewhere.

Often, it is someone else at the party who realizes there is a problem and ends up calling the ambulance. The person making the call has no idea what happened. They find an unconscious teenager somewhere, but they have no idea what caused the problem. They do not know if the teen just drank alcohol or consumed a mix of other substances. That makes treatment much more complicated. Having to intubate a 15-year-old without knowing whether it will save his or her life is not an easy thing to do.

As parents, we realize that our children could find themselves in this situation one day. We can try to control everything to ensure that our children have a good life and do not have problems. However, we know that one day or another, when they are not in our sights, something like this will happen. The situation is not really obvious.

Sometimes, our children have good friends who think about stepping in, but sometimes they are really too scared. Recently, my husband got a call and went to pick up one of his teenage cousins who had abused substances. In that case, it was just alcohol, but the young people were scared. They at least thought to call the young man's mother, but they did not call an ambulance. My husband's aunt did not really know what to do, and so she called my husband and asked him if he could go and help his cousin. That is what he did.

In this situation, the young people could have responded in a different way. They could have been scared, chosen to leave him in a room, and waited for him to sleep it off. Unfortunately, that might not have ended well.

It is absolutely crucial that we pass this kind of legislation in order to protect young people. Not only must we pass it, but we also need to make sure the public is aware. We need to make sure that the message gets out there to Canadians, so that people know that they no longer need to worry about being charged in the event of an overdose. That is very important. Even if we pass this bill, if people still think they can be arrested and get into trouble, we will be no further ahead.

What will need to happen, and it is up to us to do it, is to send a very clear message to all Canadians to make sure they know that they no longer need to be afraid to call an ambulance. It may seem pretty obvious, but not all young people follow what is happening on the federal political scene very closely, and they are unfortunately often disconnected from politics. Our greatest challenge will be to ensure that all young people have this information.

This is how we will save lives. We will save them not only by passing legislation, but also by ensuring that people are aware of our laws. I hope that what I am doing today will have a positive impact on the lives of young people, as well as on the nursing profession, and that we will be able to save lives, especially at parties, where the circumstances can be more difficult.

[National Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias Act, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise to speak to the strategy for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, especially because I had the opportunity to speak to the bill introduced by my colleague Claude Gravelle, who was the member for Nickel Belt. He was a very dear friend of mine. I want to say hello to him, if he is watching the debate. This is an important issue.

In my riding, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, memory disorders and cognitive impairment generally affect roughly 15% of the population. In 2012, the number of people 65 and older was 22,517. Roughly 3,355 people in Abitibi—Témiscamingue had Alzheimer's and other related diseases. In 2031, it is estimated that over 40,000 people will be 65 and older. It is possible that roughly 6,064 people in my riding will have Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

Numbers like that make us realize how important it is to have a national strategy for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.

A national strategy is important because we are talking about a disease that develops over a long period of time. People are often sick for 10, 15, or 20 years. Treatment is administered over a number of years. There could be lengthy hospitalizations, and we know that the cost to society of a lengthy hospital stay is quite high.

Having a national strategy for Alzheimer's disease would allow people to stay at home longer. Families might be able to live much more harmoniously and together. Children could grow up with their parents and have bi-generational homes, for example. The national Alzheimer's strategy offers a lot of possibilities for us to live much more harmoniously with this phenomenon that is only going to amplify.

It is not easy to have a loved one who has Alzheimer's. Often, in the early stages of the disease, the person suffers some memory loss, and at other times, the person is more aware of what is happening. There is a great deal of anger and denial when people realize they have deficits.

The onset of the disease is really hard for family members to cope with. In many cases, individuals with the disease will get angry at people around them, and the situation becomes very unstable. After diagnosis, the situation gradually becomes more complicated. Family members want to keep their loved one at home, but they realize that means constant supervision. It is not always easy. Sometimes, it is a little like having a child in the house, but a child with the strength of a man and all that that implies.

This situation can be so hard for family members. They get worn out because the individual can go on living with the disease for many years and services are hard to get. It is not unusual for people to be on a waiting list for a placement. It can take months, years even, to get a bed in a specialized facility. Health care services are another challenge in those facilities. It is not like at home. Many such facilities are working toward creating a home-like environment for patients, but it is far from perfect. Many things, such as mealtimes, are not like at home.

What is very difficult for the loved ones of Alzheimer's patients is that these patients gradually forget their families. They slowly forget their children. The children come to visit their parents, but their parents do not recognize them and no longer have any idea who their visitors are.

Then, it is the turn of the spouse and relatives. It is an extremely difficult and painful situation. When they try to communicate with the Alzheimer's patient, the person does not recognize them any more. Pooling all of our resources to develop a national strategy for Alzheimer's disease can only be a winning strategy.

As I explained, this is about more than just care. We also need to consider support for informal caregivers and the way they live. For example, the loved ones of a person with Alzheimer's need a two-generation home and a proper security system to take care of that person, particularly to avoid the risk of accidental fire. Such a strategy therefore goes beyond professional medical care and hospital services. It is worth taking the time to talk about this.

There is also the whole issue of culture. We need to ensure that indigenous communities get care that takes their culture into account so that they are not separated from it. When people are hospitalized because they have a mental illness and they are losing their memory, they often regress. As the disease progresses, they remember more about their childhood than about more recent events. At a certain point, many people from first nations forget how to speak English and French because their mother tongue is their indigenous language. They then find themselves in an environment where the health care providers are unable to communicate with them. Because of their memory loss, they sometimes only remember how to speak Cree or Algonquin, for example.

In developing this strategy, we need to understand the challenges, talk to provincial stakeholders, and look at the situation from an overall perspective, not just the medical angle, which is a mistake that is often made in the context of debilitating diseases that affect a large part of the population.

Last time, we were just one vote away from adopting such a strategy. With this strategy, people suffering from dementia, and in particular their loved ones, would be understood and would get the support they deserve from their government. We could integrate an approach that takes cultures into account when caring for people with Alzheimer's or other mental illnesses.

I sincerely hope that this time, members will vote decisively in favour of this motion. Even though it was moved by a Conservative member, it is largely inspired by the work of the NDP and my former colleague, Claude Gravelle, whom I salute once again.

[Criminal Code, May 3rd, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for talking about palliative care. In my opinion, that is an important issue that has not been brought up and talked about enough.

It does not make any sense to say that people who are diagnosed with a terminal illness have two choices. One of those choices is not a very good one, so we are going to offer people medical assistance in dying. Meanwhile, the palliative care that is available may be less than optimal, or there may be none available at all.

Many palliative care facilities are non-profit organizations. We can therefore provide them with direct assistance. These facilities need to raise thousands of dollars every year to provide their services. They would like to have bigger rooms to make more space for family members.

Does my colleague agree with me that the choices that are being offered to patients do not make sense? One of those choices is not a very good one, so rather than choosing the best option, people have to choose what seems like the least of the bad options in their circumstances.

[Criminal Code, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to say that I will support the bill introduced by my Liberal colleague. We think that it is a way to better detect alcohol. However, the fact remains that the problem of impaired driving is much more complex than that. This is just one of many measures that need to be implemented to better detect impaired driving.

The bill would allow police officers to use passive alcohol detection devices. A passive detection device is a meter with a display of coloured stripes that light up when the presence of alcohol is detected in the ambient air. In order for a police officer to administer a breathalyzer test, he must have grounds to suspect that the person consumed alcohol. That does not necessarily mean that the police officer needs grounds to suspect that the person is drunk, just that he or she consumed alcohol. The police officer can then administer a breathalyzer test.

This device would not be used to collect evidence, but it would help give police officers the grounds they need to conduct breathalyzer tests and perhaps detect more people who have been drinking. It could help prevent impaired driving. Every year, too many families are the victims of impaired driving. That is why we must make use of all of the tools available. However, we need to do a lot more to prevent drunk driving. There are many factors to consider. In rural areas, it is a matter of infrastructure, of public transit, or organizations that provide driver services.

When people do not really have any options for getting home after a night out, it may, unfortunately, make our roads less safe. We need to look at those aspects of the issue. Data indicates that it can take up to three years before a person who regularly drives drunk is caught by the police.

For instance, in our rural regions, people who drink might decide to use back roads that have less traffic to get home, in order to avoid roadside checks. There are also people who drink in the morning. By noon, these people could already be impaired. Roadblocks are more often set up at night. This does not necessarily allow authorities to catch everyone who might be impaired. Furthermore, this might not be the first thing an officer thinks of when they stop someone for running a stop sign at 11 a.m., for example.

Using the tool in question, we would be able to better screen these individuals, so it is a good tool, but we need to do a lot more to discourage people from driving while impaired. Of course, any time we increase the risk of being arrested, the risk of being caught, that can have an impact on the number of drunk drivers, but we need to do a lot more.

Unfortunately, there are people who are repeat offenders. It is really hard to put an end to this. We also see cases where there is no doubt about the person's state. When these people decide to drive while impaired but do not hurt anyone, the consequences are relatively minor, so they may continue doing it for quite a while, and as a result, the safety of the public is at risk during that entire period.

It is therefore important to take a more enlightened approach and examine the problem of drinking and driving in its entirety.

As I said, we will be supporting the measure introduced by my colleague, but it is just one small measure among many much larger initiatives that should be implemented to actually reduce the problem of drinking and driving.

In my riding, a disproportionate number of people drive under the influence. For example, in the RCM of Témiscamingue, which has the smallest population of the four RCMs I represent, there are more drunk driving incidents. It is also the largest RCM in terms of size, and there is little in the way of taxi service.

Ville-Marie is the biggest city in the RCM of Témiscamingue, and I believe there is one single taxi in operation there, and it is not available nights. This points to a lack of infrastructure. There is no taxi service because there is not enough demand, and there are no local services to drive people home. That can cause people to take risks they should not take. Locally, there is a lot of awareness-raising going on. Groups are trying to make people understand that they have to plan how to get home before they start drinking. This work is never done.

Organizations that try to prevent drinking and driving should receive more support, especially in rural regions where people have few alternatives. We cannot tell them to take the bus, walk, or ride their bike. It is simply impossible. Some people live 30 kilometres from town. It is very hard. Taking a taxi is not really an option either.

When it comes to drinking and driving, there has to be a better strategy than passive detection devices. We have to gain a better understanding of the situation and take the time to talk with the people on the ground. We have to talk to people convicted of impaired driving, in order to determine what they could have done to avoid taking the wheel. We have to learn from past mistakes in order to prevent the loss of lives. It is not easy.

As a caregiver, I have seen people arrive at the hospital in the middle of the night who, minutes earlier were behind the wheel of their car with more than twice the potentially lethal limit of alcohol in their blood. Intoxicated is not the word for people like that. They are as drunk as a skunk, if you will pardon the expression.

When we see such situations, we can only hope that more efforts will be made to solve the problem of drunk driving. We have been working on this for years, and I do not believe that we are going to solve the problem by taking a piecemeal approach. We have to have a comprehensive plan. I hope that such a plan will be introduced and that we will take a giant step forward in the fight against impaired driving.

We must not forget that many Canadians have lost a loved one because of drunk driving. I hope that my children will never be exposed to this danger, that I will be able to provide them with infrastructure, and that I will teach them to be responsible when it comes to drinking. I hope that more lives will not be lost and that more families will not be broken.

I am pleased to express my views on this matter. I look forward to following the committee study and I hope that a much more comprehensive plan will emerge.

[Criminal Code, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I agree that it makes no sense to guarantee the right to medical assistance in dying without guaranteeing the right to receive optimal, high quality palliative care. Both options have to be on the table.

For example, someone who is diagnosed with advanced cancer could be offered medical assistance in dying. They know that option is on the table. However, palliative care might not be available in their region. They would have to relocate and spend their dying moments far from their family. They are not being offered a full choice. If we really want to be consistent in terms of what we are putting on the table, then both rights have to be guaranteed to end-of-life patients.

[Criminal Code, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, as I said in my speech, the government chose to leave people who are not at the end of their lives out of Bill C-14.

In some cases, individuals might want medical assistance in dying. One example that comes to mind is people on hemodialysis, an onerous and time-consuming treatment. After 10, 15, or 20 years of such demanding treatments, people might be worn out and might want to stop. All patients have the right to refuse treatment. A patient who refuses this treatment will die in the short term, but continuing to receive the treatment will not cause death. That means that the patient's end of life is not reasonably foreseeable, and he or she may therefore not be covered under this bill. People may want medical assistance in dying, but some of them are not covered under this bill as written. That must be fixed.

I think we should concentrate on palliative care first and foremost. Allowing medical assistance in dying makes no sense unless we have optimal palliative care in place.

[Criminal Code, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is very important to rise to speak to Bill C-14, today and on other days of debate.

As my colleagues probably know, I am a health care professional. I still work at the hospital a few times a month, mainly in emergency and intensive care. This is important to me. End-of-life care is very important, which is why I supported a motion that my colleague from Timmins—James Bay moved during the previous Parliament. That motion dealt with a national palliative care strategy.

To begin, I would like to highlight two or three points from the Supreme Court decision that I think are particularly important to this discussion. The decision states:

...the prohibition [of medical assistance in dying] deprives some individuals of life, as it has the effect of forcing some individuals to take their own lives prematurely, for fear that they would be incapable of doing so when they reached the point where suffering was intolerable.

And by leaving them to endure intolerable suffering, it impinges on their security of the person.

It is important to mention that the Supreme Court decision underscores the government's responsibility to address the suffering that people experience. It is also important to understand the difference between suffering and pain. Pain is a physiological reaction to stress, such as an injury. Suffering has to do with an emotional experience.

Take, for example, a very painful event such as childbirth. That pain is associated with a positive emotional experience, the birth of a child. That event does not necessarily cause suffering, but it does cause significant pain.

A person might also have a minor injury that can cause extreme suffering because of the emotional experience associated with it. I think it is important to make that distinction.

These days, we have excellent therapeutic ways to alleviate pain. Opiates were long used, but now we also have patient-controlled analgesic pumps. We can even offer continuous palliative sedation, similar to what intensive care patients receive when they are intubated to ensure that they do not feel any pain. There are a number of extremely effective ways of alleviating pain, in addition to non-pharmacological methods. We have a good range of treatments to offer patients who are in pain.

It is possible to alleviate the suffering that comes with an emotional experience such as the end of life or an end-of-life diagnosis without resorting to medical assistance in dying. In that case, palliative care is an option. The bill applies to adults with a serious and incurable illness, disease, or disability who are in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability and whose natural death has become reasonably foreseeable.

Obviously, we are talking here about people who are at the end of their lives, people who need palliative care. The purpose of palliative care is to ease the suffering of both the patient and the family. Palliative care helps ensure that people are cared for properly, and that they have the help they need to get through the grieving process and the hardship associated with illness.

We want to take away all the pain, but we also want to provide support for the family.

Optimal palliative care helps not only the patient but also the whole family, so that the patient's death can be as peaceful as possible for everyone involved. We are going about things the wrong way by providing medical assistance in dying when the palliative care offered in Canada is not yet optimal.

When palliative care facilities are underfunded and need to try to drum up donations every year, they are unable to offer optimal palliative care. Most of these facilities can only take patients who are expected to die in less than three months. However, people can often live much longer than that with a terminal illness and they need a lot more support.

Moreover, in many rural areas, palliative care beds are reserved through surgical units. That means that nurses who are taking care of palliative care patients also have to take care of seven or eight other patients. Nurses are therefore unable to respond quickly or spend as much time as they should with the families, and the patient's death does not go the way he or she would like.

For people who do not have the means or who do not want to die at home, unfortunately the hospital is often the only other option when palliative care beds are not available. This is not an easy experience, and it can create suffering because patients do not always have all the support they deserve.

There has been a lot of effort in recent years to remove some natural processes from hospitals. One example would be the birthing centres that have been set up. The thinking is that it would be better for mothers to go through pregnancy and childbirth a little more naturally in a setting other than a hospital, as long as there are no medical complications.

The same thing is being done with death, which is a natural process. It is being taken out of hospitals to make the experience much more positive, in a place other than the medical setting of a hospital.

Hospices try to remove all traces of hospitals. They have hospital beds, but they try to use the patients' own bedding, have large windows, and help patients forget that they are not at home.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard the palliative care facilities work, they are often underfunded. For example, the Maison du bouleau blanc, in my riding, has four beds, only two of which are subsidized. It therefore relies on donations to maintain its other two beds. It has a large room with big windows and a shower, but this is the only room that the facility has been able to convert to an ideal palliative care room.

These people cannot afford nurses. The people who work there are extremely dedicated practical nurses. However, they have some legal limits. For that reason, all the protocols regarding doctors working with palliative care facilities had to be updated, in order to ensure proper care for the patients.

We could address a number of shortcomings and avoid making the patients suffer. If someone who receives a terminal diagnosis knows that they will receive good palliative care as their condition worsens, they may not choose to take their own life prematurely. This would therefore help protect the right to life.

However, as long as do nothing on palliative care, we are working backwards. We cannot reverse the life-based medical model to allow for medical assistance in dying if our palliative care services are not as good as possible or accessible to all Canadians, regardless of where they live, even if they live in a remote region.

Since I am out of time, I would be happy to take questions from my colleagues.

[Criminal Code, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, what does my colleague say to people who claim that under the existing bill Ms. Carter would not have had access to medical assistance in dying?