SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Feb/15/24 10:15:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise to present two petitions. The first petition is on behalf of the good residents of Skeena—Bulkley Valley, the riding adjacent to my beautiful riding of Cariboo—Prince George. The petition states that the undersigned citizens and residents of Canada draw the attention of the House of Commons to the following: Whereas the current government has attempted to ban and seize the hunting rifles and shotguns of millions of Canadians, the targeting of law-abiding farmers and hunters does not fight crime and the government has failed those who participate in the Canadian tradition of sport shooting. Therefore, the undersigned call on the Government of Canada to stop any and all current and future bans on hunting and sport shooting firearms.

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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Feb/15/24 10:16:39 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I also rise to speak regarding the thousands of correctional workers, guards, within our prison system. I ask this today, on behalf of the correctional officers in Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and surrounding areas who are concerned about the prison needle exchange program currently being operated by Correctional Services Canada. I have met with these officers and those who are on the front line. They truly are frontline heroes. They say that drugs and drug paraphernalia are considered contraband in prisons, yet the Liberal government is forcing our correctional officers to simply turn a blind eye and to allow dangerous drugs to be used inside prisons. They also say that these drugs and contraband needles and syringes can be used as dangerous weapons against the officers and their members. These correctional officers are calling on the government to immediately cancel the prison needle exchange program, to stop permitting the use of illicit drugs in Canadian prisons and to focus efforts on helping inmates recover from their addictions. I will add, too, that I received an impassioned letter signed by members of a female prison in Alberta who called on us and said that when they are incarcerated, it is their time to get clean, and the prison needle exchange does nothing to facilitate recovery. They ask that the government end its prison needle exchange program.

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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Feb/15/24 10:42:57 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have sat through much of this debate, on the committee as well. The provinces and territories did not ask for a three-year pause; they asked for an indeterminate pause because they are not ready. Industry is not ready. The health care professionals cannot come to any conclusions. As a matter of fact, Dr. Gaind, a professor of psychiatry at U of T, summed it up best at the committee last night. He said, “once again, there is no evidence that shows we can predict irremediability in mental illness, and it is vastly different from other medical conditions and neurodegenerative diseases...but we have to remember what MAID is about. It is about us predicting who will never get better, and we can't do that. And if we can't do that with mental illness, we would be providing death under false pretenses.” He equated it to being much like flipping a coin to choose who could get better and who could not. MAID would simply be killing people who could possibly get better. What would my hon. colleague say to that?

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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Feb/15/24 3:29:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the shout-out. I will remind the House that it was not just me who did this; it was a team effort. We all chipped in to bring 988 to Canada. Throughout our committee work on MAID, we found that countries that offered psychiatric medical assistance in dying had an almost a 2:1, where women applied for MAID more than men. More women are seeking MAID than men. That is troubling. I wonder if my colleague thinks this as well. Should we not be looking at a national strategy for suicide prevention, rather than going down this road of offering medical assistance in death, medical assistance in suicide? We should be doing everything possible to help those rather than help them end their lives.

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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Feb/15/24 3:56:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have spoken and shared, probably a little too much at times, in this House, regarding my own family's struggles and my own struggle with suicide, and why I fight so passionately on this issue and others. I want to say a heartfelt “thank you” to my colleague across the way. I have only known him for eight and a half years, but for me that is perhaps the most profound speech or intervention that he has made. I do want to offer this. From the testimony we have heard from the medical community, we know that seven provinces and three territories have asked the Liberal government, not for a three-year pause but, for an indefinite pause. How does our colleague feel about that? Is that something we should look at?

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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. Todd Doherty

Feb/15/24 4:43:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I would like to correct my hon. colleague. I note, in his zest for this intervention, he misread the number. It is not 811; it is 988.

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Context: House Hansard - 283 - Feb/15/24

Mr. Todd Doherty (Cariboo—Prince George, CPC)

Feb/15/24 5:04:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to our hon. colleague for Kingston and the Islands, our colleague for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan only said that when speaking of MAID for those with mental illness, how do we differentiate between suicidal ideation and MAID? Indeed, it is what we are hearing from the experts who said, “There is no evidence that shows we can predict irremediability in mental illness and it is vastly different, vastly different from other medical conditions and neurodegenerative diseases.... We have to remember what MAID is about. MAID is about predicting who will never get better, and we can't do that, and if we can't do that with mental illness, we would providing death under false pretenses.” This is completely different from what our hon. colleague talked about with this father-in-law, who was struggling with a brain tumour, choosing MAID and those who are struggling with mental illness, which has been associated with flipping a coin on who can get better and who cannot get better. I ask my hon. colleague this: Is she okay with flipping a coin when it comes to offering MAID to somebody who is wishing to die by suicide.

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