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For more from Tom Lukiwski, click here to read about a funding announcement regarding the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 59.
There’s an old political saying that if left-wingers didn’t have double standards they would have no standards at all. This maxim has proven especially true in the current debate in Parliament over Bill C-7, an act to expand access to medical assistance in dying (MAID).
The very use of the term MAID sugar-coats what it is — state-approved suicide. Already in Canada assisted suicide is permitted on compassionate grounds for people enduring terminal illness. But Bill C-7 goes much further and permits assisted suicide for anyone experiencing “intolerable suffering”, even if it is not terminal. In addition, the Liberals are also looking to amend the bill to allow people suffering from mental illness to access assisted suicide.
Just two months ago, people from all backgrounds and political stripes marked “Bell Let’s Talk Day,” an annual event in which Canadians discuss the issues and seek to remove the stigma surrounding mental health. Among the issues spotlighted on those and other occasions is the epidemic of suicide in Saskatchewan, especially among our northern and Indigenous populations.
In one breath, my colleagues on the left say that not enough is being done to prevent suicide. In the next breath, when Bill C-7 is discussed, they say that suicide is a human right. Trudeau-appointed Senator Paula Scully stated, “If we cannot be sovereign over our own lives and our own souls, then we are enslaved indeed.”
It’s hard to understand the mental and moral knots that advocates of Bill C-7 twist themselves into when the say that suicide should both be prevented and enabled at the same time.
Conservatives in the Senate are leading the charge to have the bill amended to exclude mental illness from the list of conditions that can access assisted suicide. Chief among the Conservative opponents is Senator Denise Batters, for whom this is a very personal and painful issue. Her husband, former MP Dave Batters, committed suicide after a long struggle with mental illness.
“The consequences of passing [the amended bill] will be dire. This will undermine suicide prevention efforts and treatment for mental illness. It places Canadians with mental illness at risk for premature death when they might otherwise have recovered successfully. Experts have repeatedly told us — mental illness is not irremediable, it is difficult to predict, and there is no consensus in the medical community on this issue,” Batters said.
Like many of my Conservative colleagues, I am adding my voice in opposition to this bill in Parliament. But we can’t stop the bill on our own. We need support from the public. If you feel, as I do, that the government of Canada should be helping to prevent, not enable, suicide, then please consider writing to the federal Minister of Justice David Lametti to let him know your thoughts and comments: David.Lametti@parl.gc.ca
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
