Member

Finally, the example of palliative care has come up repeatedly in these debates. I am not persuaded, nor are any of my clinicians, that this is a simple, binary choice between assisted dying being introduced or palliative care. In practice, these issues are more nuanced. We have had evidence presented in this House to suggest that, in jurisdictions where assisted dying has been introduced, palliative care funding has actually increased and got better. That should not surprise us, as both arrive from the same underlying commitments: to reduce suffering, to respect the patient and to provide compassion and appropriate care at the end of life. They are not in competition. They are, at their very best, complementary.