Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the member wrapped up by referencing opinion polls. Of course, we know Canadians support strong safeguards, including conscience protection. There will be some form of assisted suicide in this country going forward, but Canadians want to see us do the hard work of putting in safeguards.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I enjoyed listening to the member's speech. She did something interesting at the beginning where she referenced her personal religious beliefs coming from the Abrahamic tradition. We have heard a number of Liberal members reference their personal religious beliefs, but then also say that they are going to have to in some way park those beliefs.

Criminal Code  Madam Speaker, I want to underline that there has been some discussion here about psychological suffering. The legislation very clearly includes psychological suffering as a criterion and subsection 241.2(2) talks about physical or psychological suffering being a criterion. The member, quite rightly, illustrates how having these provisions could create a more permissive environment for suicide more generally.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, this member and the previous member referred to the “flexibility” of this legislation. Flexibility may be a good quality to have at a dinner party, but it is not much of a virtue in the context of legislation. Flexibility does not help physicians who are going to have to look at this legislation and decide if something is legal or not.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I want to pick up on the question of advance consent, because it has come up a number of times today. What we heard from the special committee, at least from those who are involved in health care or represent those who are involved in health care, is that it is very difficult to have an advance directive about a very hypothetical situation in which a people do not actually know how they will experience what they will be going through.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her remarks. The member for Parkdale—High Park, I believe it was, is quite correct to say that this legislation would create one of the most permissive euthanasia regimes in the world. That is certainly what I understood him to say, and I think that would be quite correct.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, the member concluded by asking that we update the law to reflect 21st-century realities. By my count, this is the third issue on which the government is using an argument of dates to demonstrate a particular legislative opinion. We need more than just the dates. With respect to the legislation before us, I have advocated for two changes.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, this bill makes it possible for a person to ask a doctor for help committing suicide. If the doctor refuses because the person does not meet the criteria, that person can go to plenty of other doctors to get help. Does the member agree that we need some rules around that practice of going from doctor to doctor?

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I want to follow up on the question from the member for Mount Royal about jurisdiction and conscience, because it is a very important question. In fact, the Carter decision recognizes health care as a joint area of jurisdiction, so it is very clear that there is involvement of the federal jurisdiction.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I was actually very clear about that point in my speech. Regardless of the private opinions of members with respect to this issue more generally, we know that the government is not addressing at all the task that the court put in front of it. The task that the court gave the government was to develop a system that would make this happen while also protecting the vulnerable.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his work on this. I want to address a few of the points the member made. It is a strange definition of lack of action to say that the repeated express will of the House on the issue of euthanasia somehow constitutes a lack of action. Of course we had proposals that came forward before the court decision, and those were rejected by an overwhelming majority of this House, which included the majority of Liberal and, I believe, New Democrat members at the time, as well.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, this legislation contains no meaningful safeguards. Even its exceptions are full of holes. The written consent provision excludes those who cannot sign. The waiting period can be routinely waived. Mental illness is not excluded. The requirement that death be reasonably foreseeable would exclude no one, and the requirement that two doctors sign off merely encourages doctor shopping.

Protection of Pregnant Women and Their Preborn Children Act (Cassie and Molly's Law)  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to address this very important issue and to distill out what is some confusion on the other side of the House. We hear constant efforts by the other side to conflate this very important issue of criminal justice, as the member for St. Albert—Edmonton and the sponsoring member said very ably, with something else, which is the issue of abortion which we know is very contentious and very difficult in this country.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity, and I will be splitting my time. I want to discuss specific aspects of the legislation today. On Monday, I will have an opportunity to talk about some underlying philosophical questions. I want to be clear that I do not believe in an all-or-nothing approach.

Criminal Code  Mr. Speaker, I have a quick follow-up to the member's previous response. I do not think it is a good response at all to say there have been other studies without actually quoting them. We have seen significant studies from Belgium and other Benelux countries that show that without an effective system of advance legal review, which need not be onerous, and one suggestion has been to use consent and capacity boards which already exist at the provincial level, a simple system of not onerous advance review could be added to this legislation which would ensure that we do not go down the road that many of the studies have shown us going down in the Benelux countries.