Discussion · Government Orders
Luc Berthold Conservative
“It is very hard for people to get mental health care in Canada. People might give up on getting better because care is so hard to find. We may not be ready to allow medically assisted dying for mental illness until we fix our care system. I want to hear my colleague's thoughts on this.”
“Mr. Speaker, this debate is always very important, and both voters and members of the various parties always provide a lot of food for thought. We do not all share the same views on medical assistance in dying. One thing that I find very troubling when it comes to mental illness is the unfortunate shortage of mental health care services in Quebec and Canada. I will not get into my own experiences, but I have to say that it is extremely difficult to get access to specialists and treatment, and that can discourage people from seeking care that might actually help them. I think that perhaps we are not ready to allow access to MAID for reasons of mental illness because we have not put a system in place that gives people access to care if they need it. I would like to hear my colleague’s thoughts on that. That is a problem, and I think that we need to have answers in that regard before taking a position on this issue.”
Mr. Speaker, this debate is always very important, and both voters and members of the various parties always provide a lot of food for thought. We do not all share the same views on medical assistance in dying. One thing that I find very troubling when it comes to mental illness is the unfortunate shortage of mental health care services in Quebec and Canada. I will not get into my own experiences, but I have to say that it is extremely difficult to get access to specialists and treatment, and that can discourage people from seeking care that might actually help them. I think that perhaps we are not ready to allow access to MAID for reasons of mental illness because we have not put a system in place that gives people access to care if they need it. I would like to hear my colleague’s thoughts on that. That is a problem, and I think that we need to have answers in that regard before taking a position on this issue.