For St. Albert-Edmonton MP and Shadow Minister for Democratic Reform Michael Cooper, 2024 was a year punctuated by his committee work in Ottawa, which he felt was a big part of his political resume this year.
"So much of what I've been personally involved in is committee work in Ottawa," Cooper said. He is a member of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics, and he also sat on the Canada-China committee's hearings related to the Winnipeg lab scandal.
"I served as the vice chair of the Procedure and House Affairs committee as well as the Ethics Committee. And at the beginning of the year I was also on the Special Joint Committee for Medical Assistance in Dying," Cooper said.
The local MP has been critical of the government's expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). On Feb. 29, 2024, the Government of Canada announced that legislation to extend MAID to individuals suffering from a mental illness as their sole underlying condition had been delayed until March 17, 2027.
"What I've been calling on the Liberals to do is to scrap this expansion altogether," he said of the delay. "I take some credit as one of the leading voices in the House of Commons calling on the government not to move forward with it. That is what has happened. They have not moved forward with this extension."
He believes that the expansion is irresponsible and cannot be implemented safely for a number of reasons.
"The evidence was clear from experts, including leading psychiatrists, that it is twofold. First; difficult, if not impossible, to assess your immediate ability. Meaning it is difficult, if not impossible, to assess whether someone with a mental illness could get better," he said. "Persons who could get better could have their lives ended prematurely."
"The second clinical issue identified by psychiatrists was that it is difficult in the case of someone who suffers solely from an underlying mental health condition to distinguish between a rational request for MAiD and one motivated by suicidal ideation," he continued. "It could not be implemented safely and would put vulnerable persons at risk. And evidently, the Liberals have reluctantly agreed because although they have not backed down, they have twice now introduced legislation to delay the implementation of a policy that was passed in a very rushed and reckless manner."
At the constituent level, Cooper says his office in St. Albert has handled "more than 1000 case files" over the past year. "On everything from immigration, to CPP, to OAS, to EI, to passports, to CRA, to the child tax benefit, you name it," he said. "My office has been very busy doing what we can to help constituents who have issues accessing various federal programs or services and need our assistance."
Cooper lambasted the current government, calling it a "government in chaos." He called the resignation of former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland a "shambolic spectacle." Freeland resigned from her position in cabinet on Dec. 16, hours before she was meant to deliver the fall economic statement. He says he hears frustrations with the governing Liberal party from his constituents and that they want to see an election called at the earliest opportunity, something he is looking to try and help his party accomplish in the new year.
"It is why conservatives have put forward in the fall sitting three motions of non confidence and when Parliament returns at the end of January we will use every opportunity to indicate our non confidence in the government so that Canadians can finally have an election that they deserve," he said.