Discussion · Government Orders
Luc Thériault Bloc Québécois
“Completely banning medical assistance in dying for people with mental illnesses is discriminatory. If we delay this debate, we are forcing suffering people to fight the government in court to protect their constitutional rights.”
“Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about the history of MAID in Canada. I hope my colleague knows that Bill C-14 did not respond to the Carter decision, because Ms. Carter and Ms. Taylor were not terminally ill, and Bill C‑14 enshrined a flawed Quebec law. Essentially, that legislation should have addressed the cases of Mr. Truchon and Ms. Gladu. However, the onus once again fell on Ms. Gladu and Mr. Truchon to assert their constitutional rights and to invoke the Carter decision in the Baudouin case. Neither of them was terminally ill, and natural death was not reasonably foreseeable. With respect to mental disorders, is my colleague aware that all the experts said that this blanket exclusion is discriminatory and that, if we postpone the debate indefinitely, we will never again be able to have this debate here? This means that vulnerable people with mental disorders who have been suffering for decades will still have the burden of taking their cases all the way to the Supreme Court to assert their constitutional rights.”
Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about the history of MAID in Canada. I hope my colleague knows that Bill C-14 did not respond to the Carter decision, because Ms. Carter and Ms. Taylor were not terminally ill, and Bill C‑14 enshrined a flawed Quebec law. Essentially, that legislation should have addressed the cases of Mr. Truchon and Ms. Gladu. However, the onus once again fell on Ms. Gladu and Mr. Truchon to assert their constitutional rights and to invoke the Carter decision in the Baudouin case. Neither of them was terminally ill, and natural death was not reasonably foreseeable. With respect to mental disorders, is my colleague aware that all the experts said that this blanket exclusion is discriminatory and that, if we postpone the debate indefinitely, we will never again be able to have this debate here? This means that vulnerable people with mental disorders who have been suffering for decades will still have the burden of taking their cases all the way to the Supreme Court to assert their constitutional rights.