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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 281

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 13, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24
Mr. Richard Bragdon (Tobique—Mactaquac, CPC)
  • Feb/13/24 3:48:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I always consider it an honour to rise in the people's House to speak in regard to matters of great importance and consequence for the nation of Canada. I rise with mixed emotions today as, obviously, many Canadians have been grappling and dealing with this issue and have been considering and discussing the issue for years and months. Even more recently, with the expansion of MAID, which has been happening at an unbelievably rapid rate, more Canadians are growing more concerned. Therefore, today, I hope to add my voice to the calls for absolutely increasing the implementation of safeguards and for putting in place the safeguards necessary to prevent this absolute augmentation in access to MAID by more and more vulnerable Canadians. Canada has historically been known as a nation of great hope, where the dreams and aspirations of individuals could be fulfilled, for them and their families. We have had a great reputation on the world stage for many years as a peaceful people and a hopeful people, but disturbingly, we are hearing more voices, not only within our own country but also internationally, raising the alarm bells at the direction our nation has taken, especially as it pertains to it becoming more available to more Canadians who are at high risk to be able to access MAID and to make a decision of such finality in times of great vulnerability. It has been said, and I have said it in the House before, in regard to this debate, that the character of a nation is revealed in how it treats its most vulnerable. Those battling with mental illness and having bouts of anxiety, depression, fear and despair are definitely among our most vulnerable. It would behoove the House and the current government to ensure every safeguard possible is put in place to provide a pathway of hope that would foster and encourage life, even in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of overwhelming odds and in the midst of some huge obstacles that come across a person's pathway. The last thing we should be doing in the House is expediting and making it easier for more Canadians to access MAID. It is troubling, not just for many members on this side of the House; we have heard testimony at committee from many reputable organizations whose representatives are speaking out with grave concerns at the direction this country is going. I want to add a few quotes into the record as it relates to this. There are a couple here from the Society of Canadian Psychiatry. It states, “it is impossible to predict in any legitimate way that mental illness in individual cases is irremediable. A significant number of individuals receiving MAID for sole mental illness would have improved and recovered.” This is another quote from the Society of Canadian Psychiatry: “Evidence shows that individuals with suicidal ideation symptomatic of mental illness cannot be differentiated or identified as distinct from those seeking MAID for sole mental illness. Suicidal individuals who could benefit from suicide prevention will receive psychiatric MAID instead.” This again is not coming from a partisan perspective. This is coming from the Society of Canadian Psychiatry. We are fostering a culture that encourages giving up in the face of grave adversity, when Canadians historically have been the types who have faced great challenges, have overcome huge obstacles, have come through adversity, have come out the other side and have become stellar examples of what it is to overcome great challenges in life. I want that to be our continued reputation, not easy access to a decision that has such finality and such a dire consequence. Another quote from the Society of Canadian Psychiatry says, “the political process leading to the planned expansion of MAID for mental illness has not followed a robust and fulsome process, has not reflected the range of opinions and evidence-based concerns on the issue, and has been selectively guided by expansion activists.” Those are huge statements of fact. If they are to be considered, they should give direction, and clear direction, to this House, on how we should proceed going from here. This time I will quote from what would not be known as a far right extreme voice. I am quoting from a Washington Post article that reads, “empowering a mentally ill person to invoke a physician’s aid in ending his or her suffering — by ending life itself — inverts the most basic goal of psychiatry, which is to prevent suicide rather than to facilitate it”. Dr. Madeline Li, a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University Health Network, told the BBC, “Making death too ready a solution disadvantages the most vulnerable people, and actually lets society off the hook”, and she went on to say, “I don't think death should be society's solution for its own failures”. These are professionals at the top of their professions, speaking to the grave direction that we are heading in as a country, as it relates to medical assistance in dying. Of those who advocate for the most vulnerable among us here in Canada, the CEO and the executive vice-president for Inclusion Canada said, “MAiD for people with disabilities who are not terminally ill is a discriminatory disaster”. Again, these are the chief advocates for the most vulnerable among us. We should listen to their voices as we consider this and bring to the House the voices of the many concerned Canadians who have risen up, written my office, made phone calls and contacted colleagues, I am sure, on numerous occasions to say that this is not the direction that they would have ever anticipated Canada to go, and this is not the direction that we should go. In closing, I am drawn to a story of a gentleman I got to know, a dear friend of mine. I share this story with his permission. Robert McCoy is a gentleman from my riding of Tobique—Mactaquac who had a huge challenge in his life. He is a young man with a young family, who began to lose sight in one of his eyes. It quickly spread to his other eye, and he became completely blind. He did not know how he would provide for his family since he had worked in the woods and was a skidder operator. He was not sure how he could make provisions for his family. It seemed overwhelming. He spoke about this publicly as part of his story. He told me he was so desperate in those times that he seriously considered taking his own life. He even planned it out. He thought maybe if he could somehow step inadvertently in front of a truck or a vehicle, because he was blind, that his family and other people would think it was an accident, and they may be able to at least continue on the insurance and make ends meet. It was a very low point, but he told me that in his desperation, he cried out. Yes, faith was important to him, but he felt like he heard at that moment a very clarion voice inside that said, “You will survive”. That one moment became enough for him, along with the encouragement of his wife and family, to start over again. A woods worker put himself through learning how to live with blindness, went to university and got a degree. He now has a Master of Sociology and is a professor at St. Thomas University in Fredericton. I am glad to say that Robert McCoy is doing very well; I spoke to him today. I am glad that during that time he did not have ready access to voices who would encourage him to go down this particular path as a potential solution to his problem. I am glad he chose the pathway of hope, of recovery and of overcoming obstacles. As parliamentarians, we should be doing everything we can to foster a culture of life and hope, rather than a culture of death and despair. I hope we make the right decision at this time.
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