I think we have to read the provisions of the legislation consistently with each other. If we look at the definition provided of “medical assistance in dying” in proposed section 241.1, it's actually a defined term in the legislation. It makes it a lot easier to draft the rest of the provisions, and the paragraph (b) part of ”medical assistance in dying” talks about the prescribing or providing by a medical practitioner or a nurse practitioner of the substance to the person. It's immediately before that action that the consent of the person is to be obtained. There's also a criminal law reason for that, which is that the criminal law is not concerned with private acts by an individual who might chose to die by suicide.
The criminal law is concerned with the participation of third parties in that decision. The exemptions and the whole regime are set up to provide for a criminal exemption for physicians when they're participating in the action by a person to self-administer a substance. The physician or the nurse practitioner's involvement is at the time they either write the prescription or give the substance over. Beyond that point, the action of a person who might privately self-administer the substance in their own home is simply not a question of concern to the criminal law; there's no crime being committed in that circumstance. The criminal law runs out. However, it may be a matter that the provinces and territories or medical colleges might have an interest in addressing more fully.