Thank you very much.
Thanks for bringing this forward. I think it's a really important piece of legislation to be considering, particularly, in my view, against the medical assistance in death. To have that coming forward and not to have appropriate palliative care choices or to have anybody opting for some of the provisions under MAID because they don't feel there are adequate palliative care services for them makes me think it's morally imperative that we have appropriate palliative care programs.
I totally support what you're doing and also your comments about whether people are getting care in the right place. I think the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association said the majority of Canadians wish to die at home, but 75% of deaths are occurring in hospitals and long-term care facilities, so we really do need to change our understanding of where and how a well-managed death can occur.
My questions are a bit more detailed, then, within the bill itself. There's been some discussion here about federal versus provincial jurisdictions. In subclause 2(1), where you talk about the Minister of Health, in consultation with the provinces and territories and private care providers, developing and implementing a framework, I'm just wondering about your choice of the word “implement”. Clearly the delivery of these services and the implementation of palliative care programs will, under our model, belong with the provinces and territories, not the federal government, so what was your view of the word “implement” there?