Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thank you, witnesses, for your very helpful testimony.
I want to direct my first question to Mr. Sikkema and Mr. Schutten, as well as Mr. Berger.
In the Supreme Court's Carter decision, the court adopted the pronouncement of the trial judge, wherein the trial judge stated that risks associated with physician-assisted death “can be identified and very substantially minimized through a carefully-designed system” that imposes strict limits.
We have heard some fairly compelling testimony about how vulnerable persons could be put at risk as a result of the removal of important safeguards passed in Bill C-14. Can you speak to any charter issues that you see in that context, Mr. Sikkema, Mr. Schutten or Mr. Berger?