My colleague is mixing things up a bit.
First, I didn't argue either last time or this time that I want the study to inform the bill. I want the study to be complementary. I did say that it would probably be difficult, in four months, to reach a consensus on the bill. I imagine that there will be a review if the legislation includes this measure. In any case, I've yet to see the bill. I think that we should carry out this reflection process, which I wanted to make very focused to avoid clouding the issue.
This has nothing to do with Quebec. Quebec has tabled a bill on end-of-life care. It had nothing to do with the Criminal Code. We're talking here about the Criminal Code, which falls under federal jurisdiction. The Criminal Code would be amended to extend medical assistance in dying by eliminating the criterion of a reasonably foreseeable natural death. Some people say that it should be extended to cases of mental illness. Even though I've been thinking about this issue and working in this field for 30 years, I don't know what to do with this.
We can't pass the next bill and leave it up to the people who are suffering to take their cases to the courts, which will make the decision for us. I think that we have a job to do as trailblazers and legislators. My colleague can make his point on the prioritization of motions by determining whether the issue is urgent and relevant.
As a health committee, if we drop a specific study when everyone here is completely out of the loop on the issue, we won't be very well placed to justify a position for or against the matter. I, for one, need some clarity, and I think that's the purpose of this committee. The same thing applies to the other motion.
I want people to consider it less relevant afterwards. If we extend access to medical assistance in dying to cases of mental illness, we may not get very far. Often, good legislation is enforceable legislation. A good report is a report that focuses on fundamental and specific issues. In science, we don't look at the entire universe when we want to describe a specific physics problem.