Right now the way the bill is worded, it talks about availability for those whose deaths are “reasonably foreseeable”. It's for that reason that it seems to me there is and ought to be a place for palliative care consultation. It's only reasonable that if somebody is going to give valid, informed consent, they be aware of all of the things that are available to them so they really know what their options are.
With respect to the question, though, of psychiatric consultation, and psychiatric consultation in every single request, I know that the Canadian Psychiatric Association has said that if there is a concurrent psychiatric illness, if there is a question about the degree of competence, then a psychiatric consultation would be reasonable. In not every instance will it be required to have a psychiatric consultation to determine whether or not the person is competent.
Again, given the way the current bill is worded, and given that it's talking about death being “reasonably foreseeable”, I included the provision for palliative care consultation being a part of every evaluation. Psychiatric consultation should not be included because psychiatric issues are not going to be a part of every scenario in which somebody is requesting to die.