Mr. Speaker, the first of several petitions that I would like to present to the House highlights the ongoing tragedy of the government's failed euthanasia policy.
The petitioners in this petition note ion particular the pernicious effects of the government's approach to Canadians living with disabilities. These Conservative petitioners and all major disability advocacy organizations in the country have expressed opposition to the government's presenting euthanasia as a response to disability.
The petitioners say that offering medical assistance in dying as a “solution” for a disability or chronic illness reduces incentives to improve treatment and care for people with those conditions and that allowing medical assistance in dying for those with disabilities or chronic illnesses who are not dying devalues their life. The petitioners want to see the government change the existing regime to protect all Canadians whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable. They want to see this happen by prohibiting medical assistance in dying for those whose prognosis for natural death is more than six months.