Justice  Mr. Speaker, Quebec would not have to ask for an exemption if Ottawa had implemented the majority recommendations on advance requests issued a year ago by the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying. Quebec is ready today, and patients should not have to suffer be

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, I am sure my colleague's intention is not to exploit the pain of people who have been enduring irremediable suffering for decades. However, she is repeating an argument that we have heard often in this debate and that I feel is something completely separate. The

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, that is a rather accurate summary of what happened in committee. The government decided to include in legislation the committee's main recommendation on mental disorders. My colleague sat on the committee that produced the report tabled in February 2023, which reco

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, my colleague gave us a history lesson. He said that his party was not able to move forward because there was an election. I would point out to him that Quebec has had two elections in those six years. That did indeed delay the work, as he will agree. However, I do

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Mr. Speaker, my colleague participated in all three sessions on the issue. When Quebec tabled its report and when we voted on Bill C-7 in 2021, I was very reluctant to consider opening up MAID to mental disorders. However, I worked my way through the experts' report and I invite

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Mr. Speaker, I would like to know whether my colleague thinks that, one day, it will be possible to alleviate the suffering of people struggling with an irremediable mental disorder. I would also like to know whether he agrees that it would have been wiser for the government to

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Mr. Speaker, the minister did not answer one aspect of my question. Why the double standard? The minister had a full year to implement the recommendation of the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying concerning advance requests. An Ipsos poll of 3,500 people sho

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Mr. Speaker, the minister's answer to the question posed by my colleague from Rivière-du-Nord is inadequate. Yes, in 2021, Quebec ruled on the issue before the report of the expert panel on mental illness was published. However, the minister had a year to implement the most wid

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, since 2015, every time we have addressed medical assistance in dying in the House, it has been blocked by the Conservatives. I understand that my colleague is not happy about it. He tells me that everyone has a right to their own opinion. The Conservatives' opinio

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about how the work is organized. In Quebec City, parliamentary committees are rigorously organized. Witnesses are not invited for just five minutes of speeches with three or four other panellists at a meeting where sometimes there are not even

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, I am not so sure about the wording of that question. It is up to the patient to make the request, but it is not the patient who ultimately decides. The decision is made by the assessors, the treatment team as well as a psychiatrist who is independent of the treatm

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, perhaps the interpretation was not accurate, because what I said is that the suicidal state is reversible and that all experts agree on this, whether they are for or against expanding medical assistance in dying to cover mental disorders. It is reversible. People n

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, that is precisely why I am saying that the government lacks courage. Faced with the political rhetoric machine, the government thinks it is better to backtrack, knowing full well that, by postponing this until 2027, it is quite possible that the same government wil

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, I have already answered my colleague's question. What I told him and I will say it again is that the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying sat for too little time. I would have liked to be able to question the people who wrote that letter to get t

Government Business No. 34—Proceedings on Bill C-62  Madam Speaker, it would have been good if my colleague could have sat with us on the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying. I think she is confusing two things. Just because a person requests MAID does not mean that they will be eligible to receive it, and all of