Health committee  Again, I think those who administer MAID are ready. The individuals I speak to who work within the health care system indicate, for the most part, that they are ready. I don't know what it is that the ministers would be looking for in order to continue to prepare. I think it would be very helpful to understand what they feel is missing in the system.

Health committee  I don't really have much to add. I think Dr. L'Espérance dealt with that quite well. Certainly, in all the conversations we're having with MAID assessors and providers, with psychiatrists, with regulatory health authorities, with members of the provincial health teams, there is readiness.

Health committee  I think you're acting responsibly, considering everything you've heard, but we need to listen to those who are doing the work and those who testified. I don't believe the testimony that I—

Health committee  We need to listen to the clinicians who are doing the work and who believe they can assess these very specific and unique circumstances. All individuals need to be considered on their own case-by-case assessment and their own merits. We need to listen to the testimonies. Yes, there were testimonies on both sides, but if you listen to the totality of the testimonies, there were certainly at least as many, if not more, people who testified that they were prepared to move ahead.

Health committee  Thank you for the question. I think if we go back and look at what the government outlined as what was required to demonstrate readiness, that has been done, and the testimony did say that. I think people need the ability to make their own choices once they've engaged in reflection and once they've had treatment.

Health committee  Just for clarity, I'm not a doctor. I'm not a clinician. I am aware of those pieces and their development, but I cannot utilize them as I'm not a MAID assessor or provider.

Health committee  We don't believe the government needs three additional years to prepare. In the event that it goes ahead with this delay, it's very important that there are clear parameters outlined that must be met. There must be a clear understanding of what the expectations are in terms of the provinces and territories, and a clear commitment not to further delay.

Health committee  What we've heard is what we heard in testimony in terms of this issue. We're not clinicians, so we're not able to participate in all of those discussions, but it was certainly made very clear by the individuals representing the regulatory authorities in the provincial health authorities that they are ready and certainly that individual clinicians are ready.

Health committee  Thank you for the question. I think that, when you listen to the testimony that was heard in front of the committee, there were certainly indications from the regulatory authorities, for example, that they are ready. There was an indication from individual clinicians, psychiatrists and nurse practitioners that they are ready.

Health committee  I'm not a constitutional lawyer. I think the committee, previously, has certainly heard from those experts. I do think there will be a challenge at some point. That has been raised multiple times in the past, and I think, each time, the people who felt they might stand up as plaintiffs thought, “Well, I can get through one more year,” or “I can get through these first two years.”

Health committee  Certainly we have tried to share the news that a possible delay was forthcoming, in a staggered bite-sized way, so that people were better able to digest that and to understand that there might be a delay. There are people who will call very distressed. We've made more crisis calls—so calls for police intervention—in the last two months than we have in the last three years, because people have been waiting.

Health committee  Thank you very much for having me. Good evening, members of the committee. I appreciate this opportunity to testify on a matter of profound concern to the people across the country who are afflicted with severe, treatment-resistant mental disorders. I'm drawing upon a submission we made to the special joint committee in November 2023.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I think it's a very similar approach. The difference is that in the end there's an assessment process for the MAID process and an eligibility requirement that is assessed by a clinician. I agree that certainly you could make it years in advance. It could be renewed upon occasion.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Sure. Yes, there are concerns and there are things we would need to do. In terms of informed consent, the individual should obviously know the disease state, the trajectory of their diagnosis and how things are going to go so that when they're describing, in their advance request, that point at which they would like MAID, it's a clear description.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I don't believe they necessarily would. I think an advance directive is direction around treatment you would like to receive in your health care. An advance request is a request for MAID to be carried out when you reach a state that you have identified and described and you meet the eligibility criteria.