Opposing the law on medical assistance in dying in 2014, the independent member for Chomedey, Guy Ouellette, is now ready to vote for its extension to incapacitated persons.
This is what he confided in a recent interview with The Canadian Press, when he added his voice to those who urge the Legault government to table a bill before the end of the session.
At the time, in 2014, Guy Ouellette was among the 22 Liberal MPs who voted against the Act respecting end-of-life care in a vote deemed free in the National Assembly.
He explains that the opposition to the law in his riding of Laval was so strong that he could not do otherwise, even if personally, he was rather for it, having seen his own parents suffer at the end of life.
His constituents “had petitions signed […] that were brought to my county office,” he says, recalling a tumultuous time when people were quick to tell him they disagreed.
“Today, I no longer hear criticism in my riding. »
Mr. Ouellette believes that the “extraordinary journey” he has witnessed in his riding of Chomedey is a reflection of what has happened across Quebec in recent years.
“The respect with which the law has been used for the past seven-eight years has ensured that it has not been a “free-for-all“Or a carnage, as perhaps some feared,” he says.
People were afraid that, “because we had medical assistance in dying, it would happen in any circumstance, for any reason, in any way; […] it did not turn out”.
“There were no excesses,” adds the elected official, who sat all last year on the special commission on the expansion of medical assistance in dying with deputies from other political parties.
The respect with which the law has been used for the last seven-eight years has ensured that it has not been a “free-for-all” or a hecatomb, as perhaps some feared.
After hearing a multitude of experts, the commission recommended that the government allow people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, for example, to sign an advance request for medical assistance in dying.
The current law sets very strict criteria to be able to claim from a doctor that he shortens our sufferings. For now, in Quebec, you must be able to consent when obtaining medical assistance in dying, with some exceptions.
As MNAs Véronique Hivon (PQ), Vincent Marissal (QS) and David Birnbaum (PLQ) did previously, Guy Ouellette implores the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, to think about the “well-being of society”.
“The population has gone to this place,” he says.
Mr. Dubé has tabled three bills in recent weeks, as well as a plan to reorganize the health care system. There are seven weeks of parliamentary work left before the vote on 3 October.