Discussion · Government Orders
Luc Thériault Bloc Québécois
“I want people to be able to make advance requests for medically assisted dying. The Conservatives would force people with cognitive decline to suffer until the very end. The Supreme Court said blocking this option forces people to end their lives sooner than they want to. People want to live as long as they can, but they should be allowed to choose when their suffering becomes too much.”
“Mr. Speaker, if I understand correctly, the Conservatives’ position on advance requests is that people who become incapacitated and will suffer due to cognitive decline should die after suffering to the very end. That is the Conservatives’ solution. I would invite my colleague to meet with Sandra from Montigny and tell her that. They care about suicide prevention. The Supreme Court said that this infringes on the right to life because people will be forced to shorten their lives. What people do is set a threshold for what they consider tolerable. They want to live for as long as possible, but when they reach that threshold, they are asking us to compassionately prevent them from continuing to suffer through their decline. The Conservatives’ solution is to tell them to keep suffering until the very end. I do not know if my colleague has ever seen someone dying of Alzheimer’s disease suffer to the very end. If he wants to see that, I can invite him over.”
Mr. Speaker, if I understand correctly, the Conservatives’ position on advance requests is that people who become incapacitated and will suffer due to cognitive decline should die after suffering to the very end. That is the Conservatives’ solution. I would invite my colleague to meet with Sandra from Montigny and tell her that. They care about suicide prevention. The Supreme Court said that this infringes on the right to life because people will be forced to shorten their lives. What people do is set a threshold for what they consider tolerable. They want to live for as long as possible, but when they reach that threshold, they are asking us to compassionately prevent them from continuing to suffer through their decline. The Conservatives’ solution is to tell them to keep suffering until the very end. I do not know if my colleague has ever seen someone dying of Alzheimer’s disease suffer to the very end. If he wants to see that, I can invite him over.