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Crucial Fact

  • His favourite word was environment.

Last in Parliament June 2019, as Conservative MP for Langley—Aldergrove (B.C.)

Won his last election, in 2015, with 46% of the vote.

Statements in the House

Criminal Code May 2nd, 2016

Mr. Speaker, there is a vast difference between the two definitions. In physician-assisted suicide, the physician would provide the lethal dose but the person must self-administer. With voluntary euthanasia, the physician or health care professional would administer it. The big question then is, when people use euthanasia, whether the person has been properly consulted. Do they really want this to happen, or are they closing their eyes? Are they able to self-administer, and should they? Therefore, they are two very different definitions.

It was the decision of the Supreme Court in the Carter ruling that it is a competent adult providing consent, proper competence being deemed by, if it is a psychiatric issue, a prior assessment to make sure the person is competent. Bill C-14, to give it credit, requires asking at the last minute to be sure people want to have their life ended. That is very important. The special joint committee did not want this prior asking of “are you sure you want this”. Death is permanent. Bill C-14 has that right, but we need to make sure that the person is competent and is giving consent right to the last moment.

Criminal Code May 2nd, 2016

Mr. Speaker, I wish the member had answered some of the questions that I put forward, one of which is what happens on June 6, in four sitting weeks, if the Liberals are not able to pass this. After October 19, one of the first things the Liberals did was to change the mandate of the external panel. They should not have done that, but they did. Then they dithered and did not do anything. They created the problem. There was an external panel of eminent people in Canada who had consulted during the election, so we would end up with non-partisan legislation.

What have the Liberals done? They changed the mandate, created a partisan committee with the report's recommendations, many of them not good, and that is why we had dissenting reports. We had bad recommendations from that committee. We need to fix the legislation, and I look forward to working constructively.

Criminal Code May 2nd, 2016

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be in the House representing my community of Langley—Aldergrove. This is a very important debate we are having today.

I just want to do a quick review of how we are involved with this debate today. It was approximately a year ago, February 2015, that the Supreme Court made its ruling that Canadians who are suffering should have access to assisted suicide or euthanasia. I will use those terms because they are the terms used in the Criminal Code of Canada.

Terms like “death with dignity” and “medical aid in dying” are used when a physician is helping people in the last days of their life. They are not hastening their death. Palliative care is one of those forms of assistance, in which people are being assisted in the last days of their life. Therefore, to call it medical aid in dying really does not truly capture what we are talking about.

When we had town hall meetings, one of the terms I heard was “medically hastened death”. That more accurately describes what we are talking about. However, I will use the language of the Criminal Code, which the Supreme Court says we have to amend. Those terms are “assisted suicide” and “voluntary euthanasia”.

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the incredible member for Abbotsford, the community just to the east of Langley. He is incredible because he was probably Canada's greatest foreign trade minister and did so much for our country. I want to thank him for all his work.

When the Supreme Court made its decision in February last year, what did the previous Parliament do? It knew there was an election coming in October of last year, so it appointed an external panel. The panel was given a clear mandate to consult with Canadians and then create a suggested legislative response.

After the election, the new government contacted the external panel, which had just completed its work of consultation and was in the process of creating the legislative response. The new Parliament could have started right away, because we had until February 6 to deal with the issue.

What did the new government do? It contacted the external panel and said it had changed its mandate. It no longer wanted legislation from the panel. It would create its own legislation. Instead of Parliament being called back and creating a special committee to deal with that legislation—we had until February 6 of this year, which would have given us a few months to debate and work on it—the government changed the mandate, said it was going to create its own legislation, then dithered. For a number of months it dithered, and then it created the special committee. The special committee came up with recommendations. Then what did the government do? It dithered and delayed, to the point now that we have four sitting weeks to basically do what normally takes two years to do.

Quebec took six years and three premiers in a non-partisan environment to create Bill 52 in Quebec, dealing with assisted suicide and euthanasia. It dealt with it in a much more responsible way.

Some would say they wish we did not have this debate. I heard that when we had town hall meetings. However, the Supreme Court in the Carter ruling made that decision for Canada. It said this must be permitted, and it is counting on Parliament to come up with appropriate safeguards to ensure we protect vulnerable Canadians.

What did the new government do? It changed the mandate of the external panel, then dithered. It had a special panel, which was partisan in nature. Then it dithered after the report from that panel. Now we have four sitting weeks.

It is really disappointing the way the new government has handled this. It is too important to be rushed through, but this is what the government is doing.

There are four sitting weeks, and the Liberals are not consulting properly. They are not giving Parliament adequate time to do this properly, and they are ramming it through. It is basically legislation passed by exhaustion.

In the special joint committee, we heard from two witnesses representing aboriginal communities, and they were not consulted. However, another requirement of the Supreme Court of Canada is that we consult properly, but that is not happening with the current government, which is not transparent, not accountable.

I would suggest that the Liberals seriously consider what happens on June 6 if the bill does not pass. What happens in Canada if their mismanagement of this results in no legislation in Canada and we have this legal void, and then the Carter decision takes over? Then we are advocating turning over the responsibility of protecting the vulnerable to each college of physicians and surgeons, and we would have different policies being applied across Canada. It would be a very serious situation.

I am hoping we will work together. I would suggest that the government seriously consider asking for more time from the Supreme Court, because the Liberals have not managed this well, and we have ended up with only four sitting weeks left to do two years' worth of work.

I want to speak to a couple of changes that I believe need to be made in Bill C-14.

The number one thing that I have heard at town hall meetings wherever I was, whether in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, or at home, is the importance of conscience protection.

I had a young nursing student come up to me and say she did not want to be part of this and ask if she would have to be part of this. I said that, at present, the special committee that was formed is recommending that, yes, one would have to be. Also, physicians would have to provide an effective referral. However, Bill C-14 is very silent on this, and it would leave it up to provinces to come up with their own policy on how this would be dealt with.

The Canadian Medical Association said that 70% of physicians in Canada do not want to be part of this, but 30% of physicians in Canada will participate in assisted suicide. Therefore, it is not an access problem, but what do we do about conscience protection?

Bill C-14 clearly needs to be amended to make it a criminal offence to force through intimidation or coercion in any way or threaten a physician that he or she would not be able to practise medicine—or a nurse, pharmacist, or any health care professional—to force them to participate in this against their will. This is the number one thing we heard time and time again: protect conscience rights.

The Criminal Code is being amended, and Bill C-14 needs to be amended to include that type of conscience protection. Without it, we do not have a pan-Canadian approach. We would have different policies in each province and territory, potentially. Some provinces have indicated that some physicians must participate.

On the Charter of Rights protection, the Supreme Court said physicians' charter rights should be protected. However, if we go on and do not provide the legislative protection, if we do not provide proper conscience protection, I am concerned that we will see in Canada physicians leaving the practice, maybe retiring.

I met a physician recently who is 71 years old and he is still practising medicine because he loves to help people. That young student nurse I talked about wants to leave nursing school. I told her not to leave yet. Let us see if we can fix this to make sure her conscience is being protected.

However, if we do not protect the conscience rights of Canadians, of physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, we are going to have people leaving the practice. They will either retire or relocate to another jurisdiction where their conscience will be protected.

We already have a shortage of physicians, nurses, and doctors in Canada. This would create a medical crisis in Canada if we do not protect the conscience rights of Canadians. It is a charter right. It is our responsibility to protect the vulnerable and the conscience rights.

There is a gaping hole in the legislation, Bill C-14. We need to fix that. I see a number of members here who are going to be on the justice committee, and we will be voting as Parliament. I hope we can deal with that.

Petitions May 2nd, 2016

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present a petition on palliative care. The petition highlights that in the Carter v. Canada decision of the Supreme Court, competent and consenting adults can request assisted suicide or euthanasia. The petition then states that it is impossible for persons to give informed consent who do not have access to adequate palliative care to deal with their suffering. The petitioners are therefore calling on Parliament to establish a national strategy on palliative care.

The Budget April 20th, 2016

Mr. Speaker, before becoming a Liberal, the Minister of Finance endorsed the Conservative plan to change the age of eligibility for seniors. In his book The Real Retirement, the minister wrote, “In 20 years' time, the economy will run better if we retire around age 66 to 67 instead of the current age of 62”, but since then, the Prime Minister has told him to change his tune.

When did the finance minister stop caring about the long-term financial security of Canadian seniors?

The Environment April 19th, 2016

Mr. Speaker, volunteers are the heartbeat of our communities. They give their time and energy to make the world a better place. Beautiful Langley would not be what it is without the tireless work of volunteers who care for the environment.

This Saturday we will be celebrating Earth Day with the fifth annual cleanup Langley day. Businesses, community groups, families, and friends will come together to pitch in and clean up. I thank all the volunteers who will be working hard to keep Langley beautiful.

In Langley, we also want to ensure that our environmental heroes do not go unnoticed. Over the past 10 years, over 100 Langley residents and organizations have been recognized for their contributions. For the winners, a heritage apple tree and a bronze plaque will be planted in their honour.

Langley residents, from Langley city, Langley township, who see youth, organizations, or residents doing good work for the environment, please go to my website and nominate this year's Langley environment hero.

The Budget April 14th, 2016

Mr. Speaker, I have a very important question concerning the legislation that was just introduced today by the government on assisted suicide and euthanasia.

We know that the government announced $3 billion over four years in its platform to directly fund palliative care. In the legislation that has been introduced, it is a critical part of that formula to have palliative care funded by that $3 billion. My question to the hon. member is this. Why does the budget not include that $3 billion? Why was it just on a platform? Was it just aspirational? Why is the government not funding palliative care in this budget as it promised it would? The situation has been highlighted by the legislation it has just introduced on assisted suicide.

Seniors April 13th, 2016

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have turned a blind eye to the unique needs and changing demographics of Canadian seniors. They have a minister of youth and a Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, but not a minister for seniors. To make matters worse, at committee the Minister of Families admitted that the Liberals will not appoint a minister for seniors because that is only good for photo ops.

Why is the Prime Minister not taking the needs of seniors seriously?

Petitions March 8th, 2016

Mr. Speaker, I am also honoured to present a petition regarding palliative care. The petition requests that the House unanimously pass the motion from the last Parliament to create a national strategy on palliative care. It also highlighted that in Carter v. Canada, the Supreme Court ruled that a competent consenting adult who has a grievous and irremediable medical condition that causes enduring and intolerable suffering should be allowed access to physician-assisted suicide, but also that the individual be required to have quality palliative care, so that the person can make informed consent. The petitioners are therefore calling on Parliament to establish a national strategy on palliative care.

Petitions March 8th, 2016

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to present two petitions.

The first is from Families for Justice, a group of Canadians who have lost a loved one by an impaired driver. The petitioners believe that Canada's impaired driving laws are much too lenient. They want the crime to be called what it truly is, vehicular homicide. It is the number one cause of criminal death in Canada. Over 1,200 Canadians are killed every year by a drunk driver. Canadians are calling for mandatory sentencing for vehicular homicide, and for this Parliament to support Bill C-226, Kassandra's law, and Bill C-247.