Madam Chair, this amendment was intended to be preventive, because, when the minister appeared before the committee, he told us that he absolutely wanted the act to be reviewed quickly so that all the sensitive aspects ignored in Bill C-7 could be studied. One of those aspects was that Bill C-7 excluded the whole issue of mental illness.
Therefore, the purpose of my amendment is to look not only at mental illness, but also at neurodegenerative diseases, which had also been dropped from the bill. When we studied these diseases, we received witnesses who were even willing to move the discussion further even more. They said that they agreed with passing Bill C-7 to amend the Criminal Code, meaning Bill C-14, but that we should then get to work quickly to deal with those issues.
There was also the whole issue of mature minors. It is the contention of the Canadian Bar Association and of Mr. Ménard that the Carter decision, the Baudouin decision, and the court go much further: they imply that mature minors, mentally ill persons and persons suffering from neurodegenerative diseases should have access to medical assistance in dying.
I was asking myself the following question, which is perhaps for the department's legal experts.
Since Bill C-7 does not provide for a review of the act, does this automatically fall under section 10 of Bill C-14, which provides for a review of the act every five years?
If the act is amended, it becomes a new act. Does the new act mean a five-year delay before the review is undertaken?
In that sense, my amendment seeks to prevent us from studying and discussing the sensitive issues ignored in Bill C-7 in four or five years, when we have reached an agreement and the minister has come to testify. This had to be done quickly, since Bill C-14 already contained a provision that should have prompted us to review the act last summer.
I would like someone to answer my questions. That is why I introduced this section. I was told that I could not table a section like that because it would be too early and we could not review Bill C-7.
Bill C-7 is not legislation in itself. It is one part of a piece of legislation called the Criminal Code. Right now, court judgments are telling legislators that they are ignoring a major part of the problem and the people involved. If we don't want to end up with legislation that will be challenged in the Supreme Court once again, or slapped with a court order, we should already be at work, discussing it ourselves, and taking responsibility.
If people with neurodegenerative diseases heard today that the act would be reviewed in four or five years because that is what section 10 says, they would certainly challenge it in the Supreme Court. However, depending on how the legal community interprets section 10, my amendment would allow the act to be reviewed and considered now, after Bill C-7 is passed.
Keep in mind that I had asked the minister if he agreed.
The minister told me that he did and that it was a matter of agreement among the House leaders. I thought that was sort of weak as an answer or an intention. That is why I am introducing this amendment today. I did not have the answers to the questions I am asking you and I did not want to take any chances.
Who will give me answers? I want answers. I don't want to just be told it's out of order.