Thank you very much, Chair.
This is obviously a very sensitive, emotional and, for many, personal issue that we're discussing here today.
I don't profess to have the depth of knowledge on this particular issue, especially as it relates to MAID that applies to people with mental disorders, that many members of this committee do, given the extensive amount of work that has been done. My engagement on issues on MAID goes back to 2016 and 2017 when the Carter decision was being implemented. I served as the attorney general for the Province of Ontario and worked along with the minister of health at that time to apply the federal law in the provincial space.
What I do know from that work is that there needed to be a fair amount of work that had to be done in terms of the health care system being ready to apply MAID in a manner that, from a legal perspective, protected people's rights, but from a health care perspective, ensured there was appropriate training, curriculum and safeguards in place so there was no abuse of any kind.
That's where I'm coming from. For me, BillC-62 is about whether or not the system is ready to apply the laws being passed by Parliament. It is the view of the government, based on what we have heard from experts, based on what we have heard from the requests we have received from the provinces and territories, that the system is not ready and we need more time, hence, the extension for three years.
I will go to Dr. L'Espérance first and then to Ms. Long.
In your view, is the system ready to administer MAID for people with mental disorders as early as March 17 of this year, or is it appropriate and prudent to have an extension of time before we are sure that the health care system across the country, and not just in certain parts of the provinces but across the country, is sufficiently ready to administer MAID to people with mental disorders?
I will start with Dr. L'Espérance first.