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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
Mrs. Brenda Shanahan
  • Feb/13/24 1:03:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I greatly appreciated the comments, just as I have all the discussions in this debate today. Going back to 2015, I too sat on the first joint committee to study medical assistance in dying. It was a difficult time for me as a new member. As a practising Catholic, I was profoundly touched by the issue, but I was able to understand, through expert testimony, that it is important for people to have choices. I would ask my hon. colleague, since I know she is also a person of faith, to talk about that. Even though we may personally have very strong values, is this not something on which Canadians deserve to have a choice?
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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24
Ms. Elizabeth May
  • Feb/13/24 1:04:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I must say, I was very disappointed that the hon. leader of the official opposition was not rising to ask me a question. It would have been a first, and I was so looking forward to my response to him. The hon. member for Châteauguay—Lacolle has asked me a very important question. I am a person of faith. I struggled with this. My constituents convinced me. I spent a lot of time talking to people in Saanich—Gulf Islands, who begged me to support legalizing, removing criminal sanctions for, medical assistance in dying. My view is very personal and a matter of conscience; I do not expect others to agree with me, when they passionately and firmly believe otherwise. I believe all life is sacred, of course. I believe that taking a life, including one's own life, is also a profound matter of deep moral conflict. However, I have no doubt at all that the Christian impulse to compassion is not to allow people to suffer needlessly. Medical science is now allowing us to extend our lives beyond what my grandparents and their peer groups would have experienced. As we extend our—
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