Juno News - Conservatives introduce bill to block assisted suicide expansion

00:00:00.000 Conservative MPs Andrew Lawton and Tamara Janssen have introduced a bill to block the

00:00:09.120 expansion of Canada's assisted dying rules to include mental illness as a sole condition.

00:00:14.440 Canadians face a heavier financial burden as federal and provincial debt is projected to hit

00:00:18.720 nearly $2.3 trillion this year, according to a new Fraser Institute report.

00:00:23.620 An internal government document shows the Liberal government knew that stopping electric vehicle

00:00:28.240 subsidies would immediately tank sales. Hello Canada, it's Monday July 28th and this is the

00:00:34.200 True North Daily Brief. I'm Isaac Lamoureux. And I'm Wally Tam Tam. We've got you covered with all

00:00:39.240 the news you need to know. Let's discuss the top stories of the day and the True North exclusives

00:00:43.460 you won't hear anywhere else. Conservative MPs Andrew Lawton and Tamara Janssen have launched a

00:00:51.600 new campaign and private members bill aimed at halting the scheduled expansion of Canada's

00:00:56.560 assisted dying regime to individuals suffering solely from mental illness. The initiative comes 0.64

00:01:02.780 as part of Lawton's I Got Better campaign, which calls on Canadians to share personal stories of

00:01:08.240 recovery from mental illness. Lawton, the Member of Parliament for Elgin St. Thomas London South,

00:01:13.360 said the effort is designed to support Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, tabled by Janssen in May.

00:01:19.940 Lawton, who seconded the bill, said the campaign is meant to affirm that healing is possible.

00:01:24.360 The campaign's website, igotbetter.ca, encourages Canadians to submit written or video testimonials

00:01:30.180 of survival and hope, while also urging elected officials to consider the bill. It further describes

00:01:35.240 the expansion of medical assistance in dying as a threat to vulnerable Canadians in crisis and

00:01:40.660 states that the law should reflect the treatable nature of mental illness. Janssen, MP for Cloverdale,

00:01:46.000 Langley City, held a press conference alongside Lawton and Langley earlier this month to promote

00:01:50.320 legislation which seeks to amend the criminal code to exclude mental disorders from qualifying as

00:01:55.080 quote, grievous and irremediable, conditions under MAID law. The proposed MAID expansion was 1.00

00:02:01.480 originally passed as part of Bill C-7 in 2021, following a 2019 Quebec court ruling that led to

00:02:08.180 broader access to euthanasia. While mental illness as a sole condition was initially set to become

00:02:13.580 eligible in March 2023, the federal government has twice postponed its implementation now scheduled

00:02:19.480 for March 17, 2027. So, Waleed, is Canada's expanding assisted suicide program becoming an

00:02:26.440 out-of-control default rather than a last resort for vulnerable populations?

00:02:30.820 Short answer, Isaac, is yes. Long answer with the facts is that the number of Canadians dying

00:02:36.320 prematurely by medical assistance in dying, or MAID, has risen 13 times since its legalization in 2016.

00:02:43.840 So, back in 2016, the number of people dying was 1,000. Now, or at least in 2022, it's 13,241 people.

00:02:53.880 MAID in Canada is the world's fastest-growing assisted dying program. MAID is also tied with

00:03:00.340 seroprovascular diseases as the fifth leading cause of death in Canada. Only deaths from cancer,

00:03:06.980 heart disease, COVID-19, and accidents exceed the number of deaths from MAID.

00:03:11.820 Now, they say previously, the former Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said that we don't

00:03:17.940 wish to promote premature death as a solution to all medical suffering. So, essentially, they poised it

00:03:24.260 as a limited and carefully monitored system, with some exceptions. But the fact is, MAID assessed

00:03:30.320 providers are not treating it as a last resort. The percentage of MAID requests that are denied

00:03:35.400 continues to decline. And right now, or at least last year, it's sitting close to 3.5%.

00:03:40.740 So, absolutely, the expanding assisted suicide program MAID is out of control.

00:03:46.760 Yeah, just one thing I wanted to add quick, Waleed, for our listeners is that this isn't just some

00:03:50.400 other bill for Lawton. He posted a lengthy video to his social medias describing why he's so passionate

00:03:56.840 about this. And of course, he's a suicide survivor. And he said, if this MAID legislation was in place

00:04:02.560 when he tried to commit suicide, he probably wouldn't be alive today. So, I just urge everyone

00:04:07.100 to go give that video a listen.

00:04:11.680 A new report from the Fraser Institute warns that Canadians are facing a growing fiscal burden

00:04:16.660 as federal and provincial governments continue to accumulate record levels of debt, with combined

00:04:21.740 net debt projected to reach nearly $2.3 trillion this year. The 2025 edition of the Growing Debt

00:04:29.600 Burden for Canadians report says inflation-adjusted net debt for all levels of government has almost

00:04:36.060 doubled since 2007-2008, a trend the report's authors say has major implications for future economic

00:04:43.440 growth, government services and taxes. The report states, quote, governments across Canada have

00:04:49.780 decisively broken from the era of fiscal prudence. Debt levels have increased rapidly and without a

00:04:55.700 course correction, interest payments will consume a growing share of revenues. The combined federal

00:05:01.500 provincial debt to GDP ratio was expected to hit 74.8% in the current fiscal year, a 21.6% increase

00:05:09.320 from the Great Recession era back in 2008. Since 2019 and 2020, governments in Canada have

00:05:15.660 collectively added $493 billion in net debt after adjusting for inflation, a 27.4% increase

00:05:24.580 in five years. The report says the cost of servicing public debt now outranks spending on core government

00:05:30.480 services such as healthcare, education and social programs. A separate report highlighted that Canadians

00:05:36.840 spent 42.3% of their net income on taxes last year, more than housing, food and clothing combined.

00:05:44.920 The report also argues that the current interest payments on debt are a hidden tax on future

00:05:49.820 generations. Across the country, debt levels vary. Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest combined

00:05:55.400 federal provincial debt burden per capita at $68,861, followed by Quebec and Ontario, both just over

00:06:03.900 $60,000. Alberta scored the lowest per person debt load at $40,939, with progress made on fiscal

00:06:12.700 sustainability by achieving its fourth consecutive surplus by hitting a $8.3 billion surplus this year.

00:06:19.540 On a per capita basis, federal net debt alone is expected to reach $33,980 this year, a 50% increase since 2007.

00:06:29.920 The Federalist Institute warns this trajectory will likely continue, citing Parliamentary Budget Officer

00:06:35.760 projections that federal debt will rise another 12.8% by 2030, reaching $1.53 trillion.

00:06:43.720 Question for you, Isaac. What other worrying economic projections does this report make?

00:06:49.320 Yeah, Waleed. So, beyond highlighting the current $2.3 trillion combined federal-provincial debt burden, 0.99

00:06:55.260 the report offers several troubling projections about Canada's fiscal trajectory. One of the most

00:07:02.000 alarming forecasts is that the federal net debt alone is expected to rise by another 12.8% over

00:07:07.280 the next five years, pushing the federal debt to $1.53 trillion by 2029. That's on top of the nearly

00:07:13.840 $500 billion in inflation-adjusted debt that's already been added since just 2019, which has been a 27%

00:07:20.320 increase. And just remember that Trudeau doubled the debt during his tenure, which was $616 billion

00:07:26.420 when he took office, and it subsequently rose to $1.232 trillion before he was pushed aside.

00:07:33.440 But it may even get worse under Carney, according not only to this report, but many reports that we're

00:07:38.480 seeing from the PBO and otherwise. The debt currently sits at $1.268 trillion, rising by almost $110 million

00:07:45.800 per day. And as you referenced, the provinces aren't faring much better. Six of them, Alberta,

00:07:52.540 BC, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and PEI, are all projected to run budget deficits every year

00:07:59.080 between 2025 and 2027. In other words, governments across the country are planning to keep spending

00:08:06.040 money, more money, that is, than they take in, with no near-term path back to balanced budgets.

00:08:11.920 The study reads, quote, Alberta recently posted four consecutive budget surpluses between 2021

00:08:18.080 and 2024. However, the Alberta government now projects budget deficits for the next three years.

00:08:24.460 And the report stresses that these deficits and growing debt loads are not just about numbers,

00:08:29.140 but have real economic consequences, because as government debt grows, so does the cost of

00:08:33.720 serving it. You briefly mentioned interest payments there, but of course, as these interest

00:08:38.460 payments grow, the funding available for public services like health care, education, and social

00:08:43.480 programs decrease, meaning more tax dollars are spent to pay interest rather than actually improving

00:08:49.140 the lives of Canadians. But in short, the report paints a bleak picture. Governments are adding

00:08:54.320 deficit spending, rising debt is eclipsing GDP growth, and interest costs are increasingly consuming revenues.

00:09:00.900 The Liberals were aware that their decision to end electric vehicle subsidies would result in an

00:09:08.940 immediate decline in sales, according to an undated internal government document. The document reads,

00:09:14.340 quote, While many of Canada's electric vehicle and battery manufacturing projects continue to

00:09:19.360 progress as planned, the slowdown in growth has contributed to delays, modifications, or scaling back

00:09:25.260 of planned investments. The Deputy Minister for Innovation, Science, and Economic Development prepared

00:09:30.580 the document earlier this year, and it was later obtained by the National Post. EV sales have plummeted

00:09:35.760 in recent months, falling by over 41.6 percent between December 2024 and January 2025, according to

00:09:42.140 Statistics Canada. Units sold continued to plummet in February, reaching a mere 8,531 units, compared to

00:09:49.640 the 24,787 sold in December. The internal document went on to say that without EV subsidies, consumers

00:09:56.720 would be drawn, quote, to more affordable internal combustion and hybrid options. Under the Trudeau

00:10:02.180 government, mandates required that 20 percent of all passenger car sales be zero emission by next year,

00:10:07.740 either electric, plug-in hybrid, or hydrogen powered. The previous government's target also stated

00:10:12.560 that 100 percent of vehicles must be zero emission by 2035. However, only 8.7 percent of new vehicle

00:10:19.100 registrations were zero emission vehicles in the first quarter of this year, according to Statistics

00:10:23.700 Canada. The Liberals' EV program was paused in January 2025 after running out of funding, despite

00:10:30.500 initially being scheduled to run until March 31, 2025. The program was initially allotted $300 million

00:10:36.900 in taxpayer funds in the 2019 federal budget. Budget 2022 allotted an additional $1.7 billion in taxpayer

00:10:44.860 funds to the program. Then, the Liberals pledged an additional $1.5 billion towards the program,

00:10:50.880 meaning at least $3.5 billion in taxpayer funds have been dedicated to the EV subsidy so far.

00:10:57.560 The Parliamentary Budget Officer published a report showing that resuming the program would cost

00:11:01.480 Canadians over $11 billion between 2025 and 2030. So, Waleed, are Canadian consumers truly purchasing EVs,

00:11:09.600 or is there a different story behind the numbers? Well, Isaac, I think the fact that the government

00:11:15.960 knows that the removal of taxpayer-funded discounts, subsidies, and advantages with harm EV sales

00:11:21.640 is telling enough. But let's go back to the recent history. Last month in June, Statistics Canada

00:11:27.440 revealed data showing nationwide sales of EVs collapsing between December 2024 and January 2025,

00:11:33.920 following by over 41.6% according to Stat Canada. Units sold continued to plummet in February,

00:11:41.520 reaching a mere 8,500 units compared to the 24,700 sold in December. The struggling EV dynamic isn't just

00:11:49.860 limited to consumer behaviors, but the response of actions by manufacturers as well. With, for example,

00:11:55.820 companies like Lion Electric that received $200 million going belly up, or Nordvold that went bankrupt

00:12:01.680 in March, receiving $2.7 billion Canadian tax dollars to build a gig factory outside of Montreal.

00:12:09.900 Premiers across the country, like Daniel Smith, Doug Ford, Scott Moe, have all called to end the mandates.

00:12:17.520 Car manufacturers have also pleaded with Carney to do the same. The data shows consumers are letting go

00:12:23.840 of this EV dream, and the industry's art too.

00:12:29.180 That's it for today, folks. Thanks for tuning in. You can stay on top of new episodes every weekday by

00:12:33.620 subscribing to The Daily Brief on iTunes and Spotify. Also, while you're at it, make sure to hit us with

00:12:38.320 a five-star rating, and please leave a review.

Juno News - July 28, 2025

Conservatives introduce bill to block assisted suicide expansion

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