SoVote

Charlie Angus

Member of Parliament
NDP

Timmins—James Bay
Ontario
Voting Attendance: 63%
Expenses Last Quarter: $134,227.44

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Feb/15/24 12:20:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know that a joint committee was struck, and we heard a lot of testimony, in particular, that the process in place to make this work is not there. We need the legislation to say that the right of someone to die because there are no other options out there for them is not good enough. We need to close this loophole. We need a committee to be struck, I think, to examine how MAID is rolling out to make sure that it protects rights. Also, I think we need a conversation about proper mental health services, which are being denied to people across the country.

108 words

Context: House Hansard - 161 - Feb/15/23

Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

Feb/15/23 4:58:23 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-39

Mr. Speaker, we need to be very careful about language, when I hear my colleague saying that MAID just takes hope away. I had good friends who suffered, who faced death and who had horrific pain. They made a choice, and they died with their loving family around them. That is one thing, and I respect that. I do not have any right to tell them that they had no choice to do that. The issue before us is whether we should expand this, with now over 10,000 cases a year undergoing MAID, and include mental illness and depression. I think that is a step way too far. It is irresponsible that this comes at the 11th hour, almost the 12th hour, to be debated in the House. It goes back to the fundamental failure. We were told, when MAID was brought in, that there would be a review by Parliament to make sure that it was being used in a fair and applicable manner that met what we were all told were going to be the conditions. That does not seem to be the case. Why are we debating putting this off for another year? We should be voting to say, no, this is not what MAID was intended for. It should not be used in conditions of depression, mental illness, PTSD or any of those other extensions that the unelected and unaccountable Senate thinks it should be.

240 words

Context: House Hansard - 159 - Feb/13/23

Mr. Charlie Angus

Feb/13/23 7:33:05 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-39

Mr. Speaker, that is an excellent question. We are debating until midnight tonight, for folks back home, because the government is scrambling to put this paper band-aid on the wound, and that wound is the failure to do due diligence. These are profound issues, and I do not know how that evidence is going to come down. I do not know where the guardrail should be. I do not know what the good reasons for use are and where it has been exploited. We need that evidence. If the government waits until the 11th hour next year to either move forward or delay it again, we continue to fail. We have an obligation here. The statistics and numbers are concerning. We have to get to the bottom of it. Again, I am not making a moral judgment on people who have used MAID. I have had very close friends use it. I can see its provision, and I support that, but I cannot go along with being told “Trust us, this thing is going to work” when we have not seen any evidence that this continual expansion is in the interest of individuals or society.

198 words

Context: House Hansard - 159 - Feb/13/23

Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

Feb/13/23 3:53:26 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-39

Madam Speaker, I was very surprised listening to my colleague talking about the numbers they have. In 2016 there were 1,200 cases of MAID. That doubled in 2017 and doubled again in 2018. It was over 10,000 in 2021. That is nearly 30 people dying in this country every single day. That is more than double all the deaths from breast cancer or all the suicides in this country. We were promised a process to make sure we were not implementing a regime that was doing this without really strong checks and balances. I find it staggering that the member could say this thing is working when we see such massive increases, much higher than in Europe or anywhere else, in medically assisted death in this country.

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Member of Parliament

Charlie Angus