I move that Bill 14, in clause 3, be amended by replacing line 6 on page 5 with the following:
dying only if a judge of the superior court in the province in which the person is ordinarily resident, on application by the person, makes an order stating that the court is satisfied that the person meets all of the following criteria:”
In essence, this is prior judicial approval. It will certainly take a lot of the onus off our health care providers, our nurse practitioners, and our physicians as well, because the judge will be the one who makes the final decision. I think what we've noticed in the time since the Carter decision until the present is that this system seems to have been working quite well. The application comes before a judge and the judge looks at it thoroughly to make sure the conditions are consistent with the Carter decision today, and going forward, once this bill receives royal assent, a judge will review each situation and will make sure that the situation is compliant with Bill C-14.
I think it's a very important check and balance, and it also creates protection for health care providers all the way down, because a judge would be doing the final sign-off and making sure that all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed.