Health committee  It could. I cannot answer that. It could be coming up at the same time.

Health committee  If I remember all your questions, in terms of the first one on the restriction of the witnesses, no, there have not been restrictions, but there has to be a witness. The signature needs to be witnessed, but there are no restrictions. I don't know if you want to answer the question about the agency or in terms of the education material or the....

Health committee  For the organ transplants, and you're talking about sperm, basically it's very clear in the legislation. I don't think it's part of the organ transplant. I think it's seen as separate, because of the potential it has, basically. And you have to sign a consent even if you die and somebody wants to take your sperm afterwards for the purpose of creating an embryo.

Health committee  You would have to have gotten it before—

Health committee  Yes, but if the purpose is to create an in vitro embryo for reproduction, you would have to have thought about it beforehand and signed a consent with a witness.

Health committee  On your last question about stem lines, what I can say is that the regulations you have in front of you don't go into the details of the information that would be.... Regulations are going to be developed under section 10, the controlled activities, which deals with research and the information that should be provided for the different kinds of research that would be allowable.

Health committee  There are three purposes for which an embryo can be created.

Health committee  No. It is to improve knowledge on AHR. It's dictated in the legislation. It's to improve or provide instruction in AHR and also to create a human being.

Health committee  Very narrow, yes.

Health committee  The relevant provisions of the CIHR guidelines that are pertinent to the consent, because this is where they overlap, have not changed. So there has not been an impact on the proposal that you have in front of you. We also have been in consultation with CIHR when they were thinking of making modifications.

Health committee  The legislation doesn't make a distinction between frozen or fresh embryos. It just talks about the use of an in vitro embryo for research.

Health committee  Basically, as I said, the legislation doesn't make a difference. The legislation is very clear that you need to get consent from the individual from whom the embryo was created. Also, the legislation requires that even before you can do research, the agency will have to be satisfied before issuing a licence to someone to use an vitro embryo for research.

Health committee  The purposes for which you can create an embryo are very clear, and you are allowed a consent form. It's only for the purposes that are written in the legislation. You can only create an embryo either to create a human being or to improve or provide instruction. When individuals are going to consent under section 8, they will have to tick for which purposes in vitro embryos can be created, and it is only for those purposes.

Health committee  Once they are created, the option is there for the individual to decide what they want to do after they have used them for their reproductive—

Health committee  We’ve consulted people who currently give counselling, and we’ve met with patients to find out what type of information they need. We then developed a consultation document that presents various options. It will be available in the weeks to come. The counselling will in fact be more structured.