Yes, absolutely.
We did hold four meetings, yes, because the court granted us two extensions. We got them because, after the election, we did not get moving quickly enough. In an effort to respond quickly to the court order, the government decided to amend the MAID provisions by proposing two safeguards based on whether or not a person's natural death is reasonably foreseeable. That's the question I would like to put to a legal expert right now. Mr. Garrison just mentioned that, if we adopt this amendment, we would be obligated to conduct two reviews, perhaps simultaneously. I do not believe that. It just means that Mr. Garrison wants a special committee, and I want one too. We want a special committee and we are reiterating through the motion that “within 12 months after the day on which this Act receives royal assent, a comprehensive review of the provisions of the Criminal Code relating to medical assistance in dying...”—which means January, February, and March, because the bill will receive royal assent in December.
Mr. Garrison was talking about MAID, but Bill C-14 deals with provisions around MAID. So I do not see dual intent, except that the intent of parliamentarians is reiterated here, that it be done within the next year, no later than the next year, and that it last no longer than a year so that we can agree on what we need to add or not add to the MAID provisions.
BillC-7 therefore leaves out several factors that many people would like us to discuss. The decision was made to pass Bill C-7 quickly. However, the first thing I said at the beginning of this study was that, while we were debating, we had to always keep in mind that people were still suffering. During this pandemic, those individuals, the patients not infected with COVID-19, are bearing the brunt of all the disruption in the health care system.
Our deadline was extended twice, and we were required to act on a court order. I feel we need to reiterate to the government—especially since Mr. Garrison said the leaders would not agree on this—that we want to do this kind of study, as parliamentarians and as a committee. That's what the motion says. It doesn't contradict what is set out in section 10 of the MAID, although it is perhaps a little more specific. Nor is it exclusive. So I feel it's important to reiterate that and send a message to the executive branch: we must stop dragging our feet.
Because we don't anticipate court judgments and legal challenges ahead of time, and we don't do our job as lawmakers, court orders come back to haunt us as parliamentarians.
I feel that people expect us to be able to say that we're taking action on Bill C-7. In my view, a third extension would have been improper, considering those who are suffering. If we did not express our views on this issue here, we would again be leaving a note of uncertainty in the message we're sending to the executive branch, which, in my opinion, has a great deal of influence. I feel it's important that we're able to adopt this motion, and I'm even more convinced that it does not preclude the requirement in section 10, but that it clarifies, reiterates and completes it, in that it adds perspective and a time frame.
At the same time, it sends a message to all those waiting to challenge this in court. Remember what we were told: some will argue that we've gone too far and some will argue that we haven't gone far enough.
However, after the four days of parliamentary work we have just completed, we will be able to immediately send the message that Bill C-7 is a balanced response to a court order, and we, as parliamentarians, are thinking more deeply and at greater length about all the sensitive issues. It seems to me that issues as thorny as those we have been working on for a good number of hours must be handled in that way.
I rest my case.