Todd Doherty

[Petitions, June 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have one more petition signed by the good residents of Cariboo—Prince George, as well as across Canada. The petitioners ask to have preborn children recognized as separate victims when harmed or killed during attacks against their mothers.

[Petitions, June 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have a couple of petitions from residents of Cariboo—Prince George and indeed right across Canada. The petition is to recognize preborn children as separate victims when harmed or killed during attacks against their mothers.

[International Trade, June 1st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, time is running out on a new softwood lumber deal, yet the Minister of Trade sees the 100-day deadline for a new deal as more of a checking-in period. No progress is being made, and the U.S. election is coming up. The government continues to tell Canadians to hang in there, which is unacceptable.

What do the Liberals have to say to the hundreds of thousands of Canadians employed in the forestry sector whose jobs are on the line, aside from to hang in there?

[Criminal Code, May 31st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the government has talked about its palliative care strategy and how it is a key component of the bill. In reality, there was no mention of palliative care or increased spending for palliative care in budget 2016. It has been brought up time and time again.

I am a firm believer that we must do everything in our power to ensure that those who are suffering are made comfortable, and that those who are at their end of life are also given and afforded the necessities of life, in terms of making sure their end of life is as comfortable as possible.

The challenge I have with the government is that it has not put any money towards that. It is an afterthought. Furthermore, it is downloading the responsibility to the provincial governments to qualify, to make sure that they are looking after conscience protection of medical professionals, and not only that, we also know that the palliative responsibilities are going to fall to provincial entities.

[Criminal Code, May 31st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, my comments are not meant to diminish the work that was done by the committee in getting the bill to where we are today. Obviously this is a topic that is hotly contested.

My concern is there are 338 members of Parliament who were elected to be the voices of their constituents, the voices of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. We have had approximately 20 hours of debate. We have had time allocation. We are again debating a bill, discussing a piece of legislation, the most important piece of legislation that our generation will see, and there are dissenting feelings and expressions of concern from all sides.

Over half of our caucus on this side has not had the opportunity to speak to this. I would hazard a guess that even more on the government side have not had the opportunity to voice their true concerns on this important piece of legislation.

[Criminal Code, May 31st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to speak on an issue that may very well be one of the most significant, important social issues that this Parliament, in the life of this government, will ever face. This is not a matter that I take lightly, the issue of life or death.

Over the last few months, I have had the opportunity to speak with constituents in my riding. I have read the letters and emails they have written in. I have consulted with spiritual leaders from many faiths in the communities within my riding. I have sat through every single minute of this debate, because the magnitude of the legislation is something that deserves our thoughtful consideration. It is also something that has been weighing heavily on me, because regardless of my personal beliefs, I represent the tens of thousands of friends and families in the beautiful riding of Cariboo—Prince George.

For years I have worked toward my dream of becoming a member of Parliament, because I knew this opportunity would afford me the chance to make a difference, to be part of meaningful change, and to leave our country better for generations to come, but nothing truly prepares one to vote on a piece of legislation of this magnitude.

I am at the age and the point in my life where, unfortunately, I have seen my fair share of human suffering. It is a true test of humans to watch a loved one, a friend, or even a stranger, who is faced with intolerable suffering with no hope of recovery.

It is a reality that physician-assisted suicide will indeed become law. This we know is true. In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a landmark ruling in Carter v. Canada, stating that the laws preventing Kay Carter from ending her life in Canada were contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Kay Carter was a schoolteacher, a wife, and a mother. She was suffering from severe spinal stenosis, a disease that was making it impossible for her to move her body. She was 89, and because medical assistance in dying was illegal in Canada, Carter and her family travelled to a Swiss medical clinic, where she chose to end her life in 2010.

It is not in dispute that Carter was faced with intolerable suffering, but Carter's family and their lawyer have publicly stated that they believe that Kay Carter would have been ineligible for medical assistance in dying under Bill C-14. Therefore, my question for my colleagues across the floor is this. If this legislation was built to address the decision of Carter v. Canada, then why would it likely exclude the very case that opened the door for physician-assisted suicide in our country?

Many have expressed their concerns that this legislation is unconstitutional. Benoît Pelletier, a professor from the University of Ottawa, appeared before the special committee tasked with studying assisted suicide. He said that people suffering with illnesses that are terminal or cause intolerable suffering are at risk of being encouraged to seek an assisted death. He also said:

...all persons are potentially vulnerable. Being vulnerable does not disqualify a person...from seeking an assisted death, but it does put that person at risk of being induced to request a death....

This is among the most troubling testimony. Beyond legal implications, the opposition to Bill C-14 crosses party lines. We have heard from Conservative, Liberal, and NDP members, as well as concerned senators, multiple witnesses, and organizations such as the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, the Alberta Court of Appeal, and the Canadian Bar Association. At the core of our democracy is the ability to have thoughtful debate and discussion on a wide range of issues. Some of these issues are easier to address than others. Sometimes there is a unanimous consensus, and sometimes there is not.

We need to acknowledge in cases where there is not consensus that more work needs to be done, amendments need to be considered, and a majority control of the House should not be used to thwart dissenting opinions, especially on an issue of this scope and magnitude.

Dealing with the sanctity of life and death should be cause for more consultation, more discussion, and more debate than that over a pipeline or a budget. We have debated this for approximately 20 hours. Over half of the Conservative caucus has not had the opportunity to debate this subject. Even more of my Liberal colleagues have not had the opportunity to speak on this. It is concerning to me that on a piece of legislation of this magnitude, my Liberal colleagues have not had the opportunity to speak on this. It would appear from the outset that perhaps the Liberal backbenches are, indeed, being muzzled on this important piece of legislation.

Quebec took six years in successive legislative assemblies to develop its physician-assisted suicide law, six years of consultations and commitment to ensure its bill was not just good enough but one that captured most, if not all, concerns and safeguards.

Time and again, we have heard it is good enough at this point. To me, good enough is not good enough when we are talking about life and death. I am a firm believer that it is better to miss a deadline than to get such an impactful piece of public policy wrong. This piece of legislation is likely the most important law in our generation.

The Liberal government should allow all members to speak on behalf of their constituents and engage in further necessary consultations in order to get the legislation right, because the alternative is passing a deeply flawed and in my opinion unconstitutional piece of legislation. Passing Bill C-14 in this manner will result in court challenges that will further deadlock the work of the House and parliamentarians in having a workable document that protects the most vulnerable members of society from abuse.

The debate on assisted suicide over the last few months has opened the door to some of the alternatives that also need to be considered when speaking about Bill C-14. Palliative care is a critical component of this issue. We must always ensure that a proper palliative care strategy is in place. While the government likes to talk about this being core and an important piece in its budget and in moving forward, it has not even been mentioned once in the most current budget.

To ensure that individuals are well informed about their end-of-life options not only physically but to deal with their emotions, palliative care needs to be a viable end-of-life choice. At a time when assisted dying is a hotly contested issue, it is important to engage in conversations around palliative care to ensure that people are making the best decisions to improve their quality of life. We need to protect our most vulnerable.

As I mentioned previously during this debate, I am a father of a mature child who is cognitively challenged. While a healthy and productive member of the community, who I am extremely proud of, my daughter could not, today, make an informed consent, let alone if she was dealing with a grievous and terminal disease.

We also need to consider the medical professionals, the doctors and nurses, who went into their chosen fields to save lives, to improve lives, to ensure that lives are not lost and continue to be healthy. We need to ensure that these individuals are also protected and that the responsibility for this is not downloaded to the provinces. We need to ensure that this piece of legislation does not become a vehicle for those suffering with mental health issues to end their pain or that physician-assisted suicide is not chosen or forced due to obligation or feelings of burden.

Catherine Frazee, professor emerita at the school of disability studies at Ryerson University, said it best when she stated:

At the heart of this debate, we must choose between competing visions of our social fabric. Shall we uncritically submit to the voracious demands of individual liberty no matter what the social cost? Or shall we agree that there are limits to individual freedom, limits that serve all of us when we are vulnerable and in decline?

When we start deconstructing the foundation upon which our society is built, the social fabric, we need to ensure that proper safeguards are in place, a system of checks and balances. This system is not built overnight and it is not built through a limited debate and time allocation. It is built through listening, learning, and acknowledging a wide variety of viewpoints, stories, and opinions, through co-operation and thoughtful analysis and acceptance of amendments, none of which seem to be in line with the Liberal government's priorities.

I would like to thank our colleagues from all sides who have shared their experiences with us over the course of this debate. I appreciate each and every one of their views and their openness in sharing these deeply personal experiences, and I thank those in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George, the countless numbers, who have shared with me their views and experiences.

I would also like to thank the members of the committee who worked tirelessly towards a solution. I thank each of them for taking the time to voice their feelings on this important piece of legislation.

For the reasons I stated throughout my speech, I will not be able to support Bill C-14 as it currently stands.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 30th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank our hon. colleague from Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, but I want to put a different spin on it.

We have talked a lot about unionization, secret ballot, and what is included in Bill C-7 for negotiations and what has been left out. However, the hon. colleague mentioned his experience in negotiating contracts at the municipal level.

In my riding of Cariboo—Prince George, our communities are struggling for the capacity to pay for increased policing costs. Ultimately, whatever costs are negotiated in collective bargaining are downloaded onto our provinces and our communities. In budget 2016, the Liberal government has failed to increase policing or any increased monies for police forces. Is this a further cause for concern and evidence that the bill and the government's point of view is flawed with respect to pushing this through?

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 30th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, I enjoy my hon. colleague's interventions as well.

I would like to ask this of my hon. colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan. Does he feel that the government continues to throw out the language that the Conservative Party and official opposition are against unionization, that we are against the front-line workers of the RCMP? Is this just another smokescreen, another deflection for the Liberals' mishandling of this piece of legislation?

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 30th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, again, I am going back to the decision of a few impacting the 28,461.

I have had a number of both existing RCMP members, everyday rank and file, as well as retired members, who are saying that fundamentally the bill is flawed. We are asking the Liberals to come back with a better bill. Prepare and provide the RCMP members with a voice.

[Public Service Labour Relations Act, May 30th, 2016]

Madam Speaker, we are here today talking about Bill C-7, which is a fundamental piece of legislation that will hopefully see our RCMP ranks on equal footing with other unionized employees. I think we can all agree that we want to make sure that our everyday rank and file have all rights afforded to them.

Our argument and position on this side is that the decision of a few, of a single small group, would impact 28,461 members of the RCMP. That is wrong. Why not give the 28,461 members of the RCMP, the brave men and women who put the uniform on every day, face human tragedy and run toward danger, a say on whether they unionize or not?