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Hon. Arif Virani

Member of Parliament
Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada
Liberal

Parkdale—High Park
Ontario
Voting Attendance: 61%
Expenses Last Quarter: $120,537.19

Government Page

Context: House Hansard - 316 - May/23/24

May/23/24 11:02:19 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, this issue has been dealt with as a health care issue since the start, and we have adopted that posture in many of our policies, including responding to the very direct ask by the B.C. government to pursue decriminalizing.

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Hon. Arif Virani (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Lib.)

Feb/13/24 2:38:57 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I have tremendous respect for the crucial work that Quebec has done on advance requests. Canada has one Criminal Code, and for good reason. Canadians deserve consistent standards and clarity about what is criminal. There is no quick way to safely allow an exception for Quebec on this issue. The conversation does not end here, though. We are committed to working with Quebec to determine the next steps.

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Hon. Arif Virani

Feb/13/24 10:23:46 a.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I respect the member opposite, but I am going to take issue with some of the submissions he just made. It is precisely because of the contentious nature of what is at issue that we are ensuring, using every tool that we have, that the bill becomes law prior to March 17 and the expiration. If the bill does not become law by March 17, we would have the confusion that was mentioned by the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, a situation where people may be able to avail themselves of MAID where the context is mental illness as the sole underlying condition. We do not believe the system is ready, because we have heard that, to a person, from every health minister in every province and territory. We have heard it from the health care practitioners, the nurses, the MAID assessors and the MAID providers. A curriculum has been designed, but take-up of the curriculum is not where it needs to be. The safeguards are not in place. The oversight mechanisms are not in place. It is precisely because of the unpredictable nature of some people's mental illnesses that we need to ensure that we are working prudently and safely before we propose an expansion of the regime to persons for whom mental illness is the sole underlying condition.

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Hon. Arif Virani

Feb/13/24 10:20:59 a.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I would like to give a two-part answer to that question. First, the Province of Quebec itself has said that it is not prepared to provide medical assistance in dying to people whose only medical condition is a mental disorder. Second, my colleague mentioned advance requests. That is another issue. I have tremendous respect for the crucial work that has already been done in Quebec on advance requests. However, Canada has only one Criminal Code, and there is a very good reason for that. Canadians deserve to have consistent standards and clarity about what is criminal and what is not criminal across the country. There is no quick way to safely allow an exception for Quebec on this issue at this time. The conversation does not end here, though. We are committed to working with Quebec to determine the next step. We have taken a cautious approach to medical assistance in dying from day one back in 2016. We will continue to proceed with caution on this issue for the whole country.

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Context: House Hansard - 281 - Feb/13/24

Hon. Arif Virani

Feb/13/24 10:12:36 a.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I would say, quite candidly, that I agree with the member's supposition. When we are dealing with a matter of such compelling interest and such consequential interests that are at stake, with respect to a life-and-death situation involving medical assistance in dying, it is important that parliamentarians work in unison. There have been divisions on this issue in the past, and there remain divisions in this chamber with respect to this issue. What we are saying is that we are dealing distinctly with the issue of mental illness as a sole underlying condition. On that piece, we believe the prudent course is to have an extension of time for a following three years. We hope that all parliamentarians would support that and the pressing need to get this piece of legislation through both Houses to royal assent prior to March 17 to avoid the very confusion the member identified.

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Minister of Justice Attorney General of Canada

Hon. Arif Virani