Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank Mr. Thériault for putting forward the amendment. I admire the rationale for doing so. We are always seeking to provide as much precision to things as we can, but there are times when doing so overly complicates matters, and unfortunately I think this may be one.
Reasonable foreseeability is not a new concept, and it's not a precise concept. In dealing with MAID, doctors are put in a position of having to assess time frames and, as we all know, time frames for end of life are never exact. Putting a doctor in a position where they have to deal with a 12-month cap is putting undue pressure on the doctor, and it's creating an artificial deadline.
If a doctor is put in a position where they have to render a decision with that time frame in mind, it might result in changing their decision so that it's complying with the precision requirement, but it's not a decision that's really capable of being that precise. That's not in any way going to benefit the patient, and it's not going to benefit the medical profession either.
Although I appreciate the amendment, and it's noble in its intent, it's putting way too much artificial pressure on practitioners who are going to be dealing with these situations. For that reason, I would oppose it.