Thank you very much, Madam Chair.
During the discussion of amendments I have limited my interventions because I think it's important that we deal with Bill C-7 so that the safeguards that Bill C-7 provides in the second track would be in place in the province of Quebec if the court decision does go ahead. I also think it's important because in my riding I know that there's much unnecessary suffering caused by the 10-day waiting period and by the inability to waive final consent.
That said, I want to speak to this amendment, because I share the concern that we need to do the broader study of medical assistance in dying, and not just Bill C-7. That's why I put a motion on the Order Paper earlier this fall calling for the creation of a special committee and expanding the mandate of that committee to include the question of whether safeguards for vulnerable people are in fact adequate in medical assistance in dying.
It was my hope that the House leaders could reach agreement to establish such a committee, but they have not done so. I hope that in our next session of committee business we can consider whether this committee can go ahead and begin that review and establish a time frame for that review.
The unfortunate consequence—unintended, surely—of Mr. Thériault's amendment is that it would provide the implication that we ought to delay this general review for another year, and I think that would be quite unfortunate, or that we have two simultaneous reviews going on.
For those reasons, as much as I want this general review to start, I am not in favour of Mr. Thériault's amendment.