Liberals raise objections to Bill C-218

Only longtime Liberal MP Kevin Lamouroux spoke for the governing party during the second and final hour of debate on Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act.

The 64-year-old representative of Winnipeg North voiced opposition on Sept. 23 to Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s private member’s bill that would permanently halt the scheduled March 17, 2027, expansion of euthanasia to individuals solely experiencing a mental illness.

Lamouroux declared more needs to be done in recognizing mental health as part of the Canadian health system and then expressed that there are “severe files within mental health that I believe that (if) this legislation (were) to pass would never get any consideration.”

Advertisement

He called for more discussions about mental health and for provincial mental health departments to take shape across the country. He concluded his speech by proclaiming that “at the end of the day, I don't necessarily believe the exclusion is the way to go.”

Notably, the special parliamentary joint committee on medical assistance in dying (MAiD) endorsed indefinitely pausing the scheduled broadening of access.  

The Catholic Register connected with Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Executive Director Alex Schadenberg immediately after the debate for his reaction to Lamouroux, as the fate of this bill is evidently entirely in the hands of the Liberal Party. The longtime advocate against Canada’s MAiD regime repeated his appeal for a coalition of Liberals to vote “yes” at second reading Oct. 7.

“The real hope is that some of the backbench Liberals will support it and a few others who are on the AMAD committee dealing with the mental health issue will be supporting this bill because we need to get it passed,” said Schadenberg.

He underscored that there is little time to get this bill, or a Liberal-tabled equivalent, through both the House of Commons and Senate before the sunset clause excluding mental health as a sole underlying condition expires.

Advertisement

Elucidating his point, one-week parliamentary recesses are scheduled for Sept. 28-Oct. 2, Oct. 12-16 and Nov. 9-13, and then there is the Christmas break from Dec. 14 to Jan. 25, 2027. And while the House of Commons is in session for three of the four weeks in February, only March 8-12 are designated as sitting days before the determinative March 17 date.

Jansen also emphasized the need for legislative speed. She also signalled openness to changing challenged language in her bill if it reaches the committee stage.

“If the concern with Bill C-218 is the wording and the use of the term mental disorder instead of mental illness, then let's fix the wording at committee,” said Jansen. “We're prepared to work with the government at committee to make the technical changes.  A bill should not be defeated at second reading over one word when there is agreement on the principle.”

Schadenberg has also heard pushback against Bill C-218’s wording.

“All the letters I’ve received from the Liberals have been the same,” he said. “They say that Bill C-218, actually in its language, goes too far. I obviously don’t agree, but that’s not the point, but obviously when it gets into committee, it can be amended, and Tamara is saying she’s willing to look at those amendments.”

Liberals opposed to Bill C-218 are expected to receive unanimous support from the 21 Bloc Québécois MPs. The NDP and Green Party MP Elizabeth May have not yet publicly stated their position about the legislation currently under consideration. Members of these parties voted as one in favour of Bill C-314, a previous iteration of Bill C-218 tabled by now-retired Conservative MP Ed Fast. That bill was defeated 167-150, a vote that saw eight Liberals break ranks.

Advertisement

If the six combined NDP and Green votes team with the 137 Conservative votes, 29 Liberals would have to join this voting bloc to achieve a majority.

Attention now turns towards Attorney General of Canada and Justice Minister Sean Fraser for the two weeks between the debate and the Oct. 7 second reading vote to see if he tables an alternative to Bill C-218.

(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)