Anthony RotaMP Anthony Rota says rules need to be put in place when it comes assisted dying.  

New legislation on medically assisted dying is being introduced Thursday by the federal government, more than a year after the Supreme Court struck down Canada’s ban on assisted suicide.

The new law says only competent adults should be eligible to receive medical aid in dying — excluding minors and not allowing people diagnosed with certain conditions like dementia to make advance requests for assisted suicide. 

Rota says with the Supreme Court making their decision, they’ve basically legalized assisted dying in Canada. 

“What we’re doing now is trying to put together some parameters so that it’s done in a respectful way and a well thought out way.”  

He says he doesn’t want to see what happened with abortion, when it was passed by a previous Conservative government, but there was no rules put in place.  

“If we don’t put together rules now, we’re going to have a system that is very loose.”
Meantime, Rota also commented on the situation in Attawapiskat. 

He says Health Canada has dispatched mental health counsellors to the First Nations community with more back-up on the way.  

Rota also says the House of Commons held an emergency debate on the issue earlier this week.  

He says a lot of good points came out. 

Rota says he believes there’s a real will in government and the Canadian population to “resolve the issues that have been plaguing us for 150 to 200 years.”