Thank you, Mr. Chair.
One particular witness who appeared before the committee was a nurse. She had a 16-year-old daughter who had cancer. I asked the witness for more details on what she had been dealing with.
Her daughter was 16. She had cancer. The mother was a nurse. She left work in May and she is still caring for her daughter. I asked this lady whether or not she would feel any differently in terms of the support she had given her daughter if her daughter were 19 as opposed to 16. She turned it back on me and asked, “Are you a parent? How would you feel?” I said, “I am a parent. I have two children.” I asked her specifically because I wanted her answer, and she said that it wouldn't matter if her daughter was 19 or 29 or 39. I want to make that point.
I also want to bring this back to a point that Ms. Leitch made. She talked about how a disabled child is different from a critically ill child. While Ms. Leitch was speaking, all I was thinking about was how one can have a disabled child who is still critically ill.
The point has been made here this morning that there has to be leeway in the legislation for exceptional circumstances. That's the point we need to hammer home.