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House Hansard - 281

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 13, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24
Mr. Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, NDP)
Mr. Speaker, in the previous Parliament, I was the NDP's representative on the medical assistance in dying committee. I do support medical assistance in dying, but it was the most difficult issue I have ever dealt with, and I agree with my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands that it was probably the most difficult issue most of us have ever dealt with in the House. For that reason, I agree with the minister that we have to proceed very cautiously and very deliberately in any expansion to medical assistance in dying. Today I would rather be talking about removing mental illness as the sole underlying condition, but Parliament dealt with that question with the private member's bill from the member for Abbotsford, Bill C-314, so we cannot do that today. We are placed in the awkward position where the Senate added the provision to the original medical assistance in dying legislation, which I think was very ill-advised. However, we have no choice at this point, I believe, but to support the closure motion to try to get this done so we can prevent the provision from coming into force, when we know clearly we are not ready and when we know some of us have very clear moral reservations about the expansion.
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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24
Right Hon. Justin Trudeau (Prime Minister, Lib.)
  • Feb/13/24 2:26:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we all know that medical assistance in dying is a difficult, deeply personal choice that families and individuals are confronted with at extremely difficult moments in their lives. We know that, as a government and a Parliament, we have a responsibility to ensure that vulnerable people are protected, but also to respect the choices and rights of people who want to use MAID. We will keep having these conversations, including with the Government of Quebec, to find the right path to take for everyone.
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