Comment vont-ils réparer un projet de loi qui ne respecte même pas les droits des Canadiens?
Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to stand up and speak to medical assistance in dying, Bill C-14, the legislation that we put forward to provide a national framework for medical assistance in dying in this country. This national framework would provide and strike the right balance between personal autonomy and protection of the vulnerable. This is a significant step forward for us as a country. It certainly respects rights, balances rights, and is justifiable and responsible in terms of the timeframe we had to put it in place.
Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP): Mr. Speaker, two courts, the Alberta Court of Appeal and the Ontario Superior Court, say what the Minister of Justice just said is wrong, and we trust those court decisions.
The Liberals have badly mishandled medically assisted dying. It should have been non-partisan and evidence-based and they have made it political. They steamrolled Parliament to pass an unconstitutional bill. Now the Senate is refusing to pass the legislation without the amendments that we proposed.
Liberals know full well their bill will not survive a court challenge. Will they now admit that the bill must be fixed, and will they fix it?
Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the premise of the question. The reality is, with respect to the court decisions from Alberta and otherwise, those court decisions were with respect to specific amendments that were in place prior to June 6. They were not decisions with respect to Bill C-14, the legislation that we have put forward.
The Supreme Court of Canada provided great deference to Parliament to put in place the necessary and balanced approach to medical assistance in dying, and that is exactly what we have done in Bill C-14.