- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Cumberland—Colchester
- Nova Scotia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $134,737.37
- Government Page
- Apr/18/23 2:10:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, April 18 and 19, 2020, are the days ingrained in the memories of all Nova Scotians, and indeed all Canadians. Today marks three years since an inexplicable madman inserted himself into the lives of 22 Nova Scotians and an unborn baby.
The hurt and disbelief continue to be a part of everyday life. Events such as this do not happen in Canada, let alone in a small community such as Portapique, Nova Scotia. Words fail when we attempt to understand the gravity of the situation, when we attempt to grasp the ongoing rawness of emotions or attempt to understand how and why this happened.
Our thoughts, at times, are frozen as we attempt to process, to interpret and to explain the shock, the horror and the sadness experienced by all affected. Those of us left behind need to continue to honour their memory, ensure the terrible events are not forgotten, and hold accountable the systems and institutions that failed these Canadians in their time of greatest need.
I invite everyone in the House to keep all of those left behind, especially the families, in their thoughts and in their prayers.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House. Of course, speaking on issues as weighty as medical assistance in dying, these are perhaps some of the most difficult things we will speak of in the House. I note that this is going to be an issue I am sure we will face in the chamber over the next several months, and perhaps again, as the bill comes to pass.
Today we are talking about mental disorder as the sole underlying medical condition for Canadians to access medical assistance in dying. The bill is presenting legislation for a one-year delay. Why is the government asking for a one-year delay? Certainly, this is about the concerns Canadians have across this great country with respect to the presentation of the government.
Perhaps, it will be similar to Bill C-21, when the issues Canadians had were brought forward by the Conservatives, and the Liberals had to change position on that bill. We know that there are mental health advocates who have significant concerns about the bill, such as the Association of Chairs of Psychiatry, which brought forth issues related to mental disorder as the sole underlying medical condition.
One of the things that is germane is to help people understand what it is we were studying at the joint committee on medical assistance in dying. We were talking about mature minors. We were talking about advance requests. We were talking about Canadians with disabilities. We were talking about the state of palliative care in Canada, and we were talking about Canadians who suffer with a mental disorder. When we looked at these particular topics, there were many contentious issues, and it became heated and personal at times, which was perhaps as it should be.
For comparison, I think we need to understand that, when we look at Canada and its perhaps 38 million people, we know that in the last year, 10,000 people died from medical assistance in dying. In California, which has a very similar population and perhaps similar rules, there were only 400 deaths due to medical assistance in dying.
People might ask why we would not compare with the Netherlands. It has been at this for a while, and maybe it is a better representation. They have a population of 17 million people and about 5,000 people died to medical assistance in dying.
They already have statutes that include depression, dementia and all the other things I have mentioned previously, so if we wanted to compare that directly to Canada, including depression and perhaps advance requests, they would have about 10,000 deaths at the current time. We know that in Canada, without mental disorder and without advance requests, there are already 10,000 people who have died between 2020 and 2021 due to MAID. That is a year over year increase of 32%.
That, to me, is concerning, and I think that anybody in this chamber would also know that on the world stage, sadly, in my mind anyway, Canada has been a world leader in medical assistance in dying, and many countries around the world have brought forward concerns of the slippery slope that Canada is now going down.
One of the things the government has promised to Canadians, which they have not delivered upon, is the Canada mental health transfer, and I am sure that my hon. colleague just before me spoke about this, so I am sad to have missed it. That was a $4.5 billion transfer that was promised by the government in its platform in the last election. I read a new article about this, and it says, “in August 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this brand new transfer was needed”—
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- May/13/22 11:05:15 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday I had the heart-wrenching opportunity to hear the story of Stephen MacDougall. Stephen was a 45-year-old man who was a proud father, a significant contributor to his community and a tremendous athlete. He was also a twin brother, a son, an uncle and a husband.
Sadly, almost a year ago, Stephen MacDougall died after receiving a vaccine for COVID-19. Speaking as a parliamentarian, a physician who worked on a COVID-19 unit and a Canadian, I believe we have a responsibility to understand the adverse events related to this new group of vaccinations. We need to understand the data as it pertains to Canada, the world, and short- and long-term safety.
Since over 11.5 billion doses have been given worldwide and the data has been collected, now is the time for all of us in the House to act. The data needs to be properly analyzed so we can present this scientific information to Canadians to enable them to make informed choices and give informed consent going forward.
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- Apr/7/22 2:11:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an incident that sadly will live in infamy, and in the minds of the citizens of Portapique, Nova Scotia, and indeed of all Canadians. I refer to the incidents of April 18 and 19, 2020. Over this less than 24-hour time span, 23 lives, including that of an unborn baby, were senselessly taken.
The families, community members and all of us continue to mourn. This unfathomable act of violence occurred in small-town Canada. All of us continue to question the whys and the hows of this mass tragedy. Our feelings continue to be raw. The questions continue to be great. The sorrow experienced continues to be, at times, overwhelming.
My comments today will not provide great relief to those who are suffering; however, they will know that their loved ones and their terrible grief have not gone unrecognized. They are remembered and shared by those of us in the House of Commons today and, as the anniversary of the tragedy looms ever closer, by all Canadians.
Let us forever remember those families and all of those affected in our thoughts and in our prayers.
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