44th Parl. 1st Sess.

February 13, 2024 10:00AM

Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Feb/13/24 7:11:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, at the outset, I would like to say that I am splitting my time with my hon. colleague from Calgary Rocky Ridge. This is a weighty issue. Over the course of this debate, I have listened intently to all of our colleagues. I am brought back to when we debated this as new members of Parliament in 2016. I said, at that time, that this is perhaps one of the most important pieces of legislation that our generation would be debating and discussing. I also said, at that time, that there is nothing that prepares someone, as a new member of Parliament, to debate and make choices about that piece of legislation. I consulted so many of my constituents, as well as friends of mine in the faith community. I consulted my pastor. I was conflicted as to how I was going to vote. I said at that time, too, that it was troubling for me because we were in the eleventh hour on such an important piece of legislation, and here we are again at the eleventh hour on a piece of legislation that is, quite frankly, literally life and death. I want to make something clear. In the time since MAID became law, I have sat with families who have had loved ones who have chosen MAID. Our family very recently had a loved one who chose MAID, and we are currently dealing with all of the emotions that go along with that. It has been a tough few months for our family, but I now have a greater understanding, I believe, of the complexities of this issue. I do understand both sides of the argument better than I did in 2016. Nevertheless, I firmly believe that expanding MAID to the mentally ill is giving up on people who could be saved. I have spent my eight and a half years of being elected fighting for those who do not have a voice, fighting for mental health awareness, passing bills with respect to post-traumatic stress disorder, and fighting for us, as a nation, to adopt the simple three-digit suicide hotline 988. I have to ask why. Why did I fight so hard if all we are going to do is pass a piece of legislation so somebody who is struggling with a mental illness or mental health issues can choose medically assisted death or suicide? It is deeply troubling for me to see how far we have fallen to where we can perpetuate one's addiction, but we cannot get them into recovery. We have fallen so far to where we are saying it is okay if someone is struggling, as we will offer assistance in death if they are struggling with a mental illness. We are giving up on people. I am disappointed in how we, as a Parliament, have taken the easy way out. Expanding assisted suicide to include people whose sole condition is mental illness will result in the deaths of Canadians who could have gotten better. We have 12 Canadians who die by suicide every day. A further 200 attempt suicide. That is 73,000 Canadians a year who attempt suicide, and those are just the numbers we know of. What are we saying? My colleagues spoke very passionately about the statistics and the feedback from experts about mental illness and the irremediability of it. It is like a coin flip as to whether somebody can recover from it or not. In preparing for this debate, I was reminded of a young man long ago who had enough of the abuse and dysfunction he was growing up with. He had lost a brother in a horrific car crash. He wanted to die and attempted suicide, but was found and saved by a loved one. That same gentleman tried it again, but for the bitterness of the metal of the weapon he chose to use, I dare to think what could have happened. I think about if that young man, so many years ago, was successful in wanting to die by suicide. That young man would not have married his high school sweetheart, had four amazing children and a beautiful granddaughter, and travelled the world so many times to see and experience things that some will only ever be able to experience through the wonders of the Internet. I think about that young man taking a chance in 2014 to run for office. I think about that young man who was elected in 2015 to represent his hometown riding of Cariboo—Prince George and how he would have missed out on all those opportunities. I think about that every day when we talk about suicide and doing whatever we can to get the message across that we should always choose life, that hope is always possible. Whatever it is that somebody is going through, it may seem so dark, but light is just a short hand away. That young man is me and, for the first time, I am sharing this. I think about that all the time when we do what we do here in the House, when we are fighting for those who do not have a voice. If somebody had not told me that life is worth living and asked to let them help me at that time, there are so many things I would have missed out on. I appreciate the debate that we have had in the House, but I am saying that today we should be fighting every minute for those who are struggling, to tell them that hope is always possible and life is worth living. I will continue to fight for that as long as I am elected.

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House Hansard - 281