Langley MP Mark Warawa Speaks Out Against Legalizing Euthanasia.

March 24, 2010

On March 16th 2010, Mark Warawa, spoke out against bill C-384 which proposes the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, in the house of commons.

I am pleased to rise today to Bill C-384 that was introduced on May 13, 2009 by the member of La Pointe de L’île.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to state at the outset that I do not support Bill C-384 which proposes the legalization of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia under specified conditions. This Bill raises a number of serious concerns and I propose to outline the ones I consider to be most troubling.
 
First, Bill C-384 is too broad in terms of its scope. Mr. Speaker, Bill C-384 proposes to amend the Criminal Code to provide an exemption not only to the offence of assisted suicide, but also the offence of murder. These amendments would represent a substantial change to the current state of the Law on a matter that touches on life and death.
 
Mr. Speaker, the proposed legalization of medical euthanasia and assisted suicide would not only apply to terminally-ill patients, but also to persons who suffer from severe physical or mental pain without any prospect of relief. Therefore, under this Bill, persons who suffer from depression could request that a doctor help them to commit suicide. They could also request that the doctor carry out the act itself that would cause their death.
 
When I articulated earlier that Bill C-384 is too broad in its scope, this concern applies to both the fact that would permit physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, and to the fact that it would allow a vast array of persons to make a request to a doctor for assisted death.
 
Mr. Speaker, the second important concern I wish to raise with respect to this Bill is how it does not encompass sufficient safeguards. The subject of safeguards, like the subject of the scope, also has two aspects in the context of this Bill. The first deals with ensuring that the eligibility requirements and the terms used are properly circumscribed. In this respect, Bill C-384 contains a number of vague and undefined terms that could lead to interpretation problems and, therefore, potentially to misunderstandings or abuses.
 
For example, terms such as “while appearing to be lucid”, “appropriate treatment,” “severe physical or mental pain”, “without any prospect of relief” all these terms have the potential to be interpreted very subjectively. Also, the 10-day “cooling off” period, if you will, is too short to ensure that a person’s wish to die was settled.
 
The other element of ensuring appropriate safeguards deals with putting in place an effective oversight mechanism. In this respect, Mr. Speaker, Bill C-384 contains a woefully insufficient oversight mechanism. Under Bill C-384, the doctor who would assist in a suicide or terminate someone’s life would only have to provide a copy of the diagnosis to the coroner after the fact.
 
Bill C-384 would give a doctor the authority to terminate life on the apparent consent of the patient. Under the terms of Bill C-384, people as young as 18, diagnosed with depression and not wanting treatment could ask to have the life terminated by a doctor.
 
Parliament should not consider such profound changes to the law without prior input from Canadians. Many different stakeholder groups should be consulted in advance of specific reforms being considered.
 
These amendments would have serious implications for the medical profession in particular. Surely, the medical profession should be consulted in advance of such significant changes being made to current medical ethics and practice.
 
I know that other countries have struggled with this difficult issue over the years, both in their legislatures and in the courts. While some countries have amended their laws to permit physician-assisted suicide and/or euthanasia, others have not supported such changes. In any event, regardless of what other countries have done, we have to consider what is right for our society. It is not clear to me that the legal regime proposed in this Bill is right for Canada.
 
In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate that I do not support this Bill. Bill C-384 would represent a substantial change to the current policy on the criminalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
 
It raises a number of significant legal and policy concerns and, in my view, would not adequately protect human life. Bill C-384 would also have a major impact on current medical ethics and practice. Such substantial changes to the law should not be considered without extensive advance consultations. And, our seniors are treasures, not trash.
 
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.