Madam Speaker, it is with a great deal of emotion that I rise today to speak to this report. We are talking about it because advance requests for MAID are a topical issue in Quebec, which implemented its legislation yesterday. It was a big day. It took a year for the act to pass, and it came into force this week.
This is a great day for Quebeckers. From now on, people diagnosed with an incurable, neurodegenerative disease will be eligible to submit advance requests. Obviously, they are under no obligation to make a request, but the option is theirs. They are free to state their wishes after being diagnosed with a disease that would eventually rob them of any ability to make decisions as they become incapacitated.
All day long, I have been listening to speeches questioning the idea of medical assistance in dying. I felt like I had gone back in time. We have already had this debate, and even though it is not over for some people, patients can now request MAID anywhere in Quebec and Canada. In Quebec, we had a fairly broad and lengthy public debate. I think we are ahead of the curve when it comes to discussing this in our society.
Medical assistance in dying is not an end in itself. A Quebecker who receives a diagnosis and requests MAID has a number of choices available to them. They can decide to request palliative care, palliative sedation or a lethal injection that allows them to choose when they will die. This debate has been quite clear in Quebec for the past 10 years or so. We are quite advanced in our approach to this freedom of choice, this freedom to make an informed decision, with the support of a professional team, about leaving this earth for the great beyond, if I may use that expression.
My colleague from Montcalm, whom I greatly admire for his expertise, diligence and professionalism, explained to us in his speech that a joint committee was established in 2021 following legal decisions by a court asking us to reflect on this issue. A committee was struck, consisting of members from all the parties, including the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and the NDP, as well as senators. Honestly, I would say that they did monumental work. For nearly two years, they heard witnesses from Quebec and other provinces, and from international experts; all of them, either for or against, shared what they knew. The breadth of everything they were able to learn and understand is impressive.
As a parliamentarian, I value the work that has been done. It has not always been easy, because this is a sensitive issue. Advance requests and the other points we agreed to study are not easy topics. It was often emotional, given that it involves personal values. This led to some good discussions. In the end, the committee members agreed on some of the many recommendations, and I should repeat that there were Conservative members on the committee. They agreed on two recommendations that I would like to read, because it appears that, somewhere along the way, we have forgotten what we are debating today. On the Bloc Québécois side, we wonder why, despite an exhaustive, professional and very rigorous study, the government is not taking note of the report, particularly recommendations 21 and 22, which deal specifically with advance requests.
Recommendation 21 states, “That the Government of Canada amend the Criminal Code to allow for advance requests following a diagnosis of a serious and incurable medical condition disease, or disorder leading to incapacity.”
Recommendation 22 states, “That the Government of Canada work with provinces and territories, regulatory authorities, provincial and territorial law societies and stakeholders to adopt the necessary safeguards for advance requests.”
These are two great recommendations that, in 2023, urged the government to get to work because the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying had reached a consensus.
The government did nothing. It dragged its feet on this very important component of medical assistance in dying, knowing full well that Quebec would legislate and that a law would come into force in Quebec. We knew we would find ourselves in the position that we are in today. A province has taken the time to think things through and to pass legislation that reflects what Quebeckers want. However, the federal government ignored that legislation, shelved the report and failed to put any effort whatsoever into determining how it should move forward with the entire debate on advance requests, given that Quebec has its own law.
Now, we are in a situation where doctors have the right to offer medical assistance in dying to people who make an advance request. Some will likely do so. However, others will still be afraid to provide this care, and that is what worries us. I would encourage the government to get to work as quickly as possible.
