Discussion · Government Orders
Luc Thériault Bloc Québécois
“I do not understand why the government changed its mind on mental illness. I support letting provinces handle advance requests for medically assisted dying, since health care is their job. But Quebec already has a law for this. This bill should use the exact same words as Quebec's law so doctors are not confused.”
“Madam Speaker, as I said, I do not understand why the government is doing a complete about-face when it comes to mental disorders. As for advance requests, it has accepted the Bloc Québécois’s position that the provinces are responsible for health care. Since we are talking about end-of-life care, it is reasonable to say that if additional safeguards are warranted, then a province may proceed as long as it has enacted legislation and meets certain conditions. However, since the only law currently in place is in Quebec, and since the minister claims that it should be modelled on Quebec’s experience, I would have preferred to see the same wording, more importantly to avoid introducing a concept that could create confusion in clinical practice. That is what I would say.”
Madam Speaker, as I said, I do not understand why the government is doing a complete about-face when it comes to mental disorders. As for advance requests, it has accepted the Bloc Québécois’s position that the provinces are responsible for health care. Since we are talking about end-of-life care, it is reasonable to say that if additional safeguards are warranted, then a province may proceed as long as it has enacted legislation and meets certain conditions. However, since the only law currently in place is in Quebec, and since the minister claims that it should be modelled on Quebec’s experience, I would have preferred to see the same wording, more importantly to avoid introducing a concept that could create confusion in clinical practice. That is what I would say.