Thank you, Madam Chair.
I am speaking in support of this motion.
In the discussions we've had to date, obviously we've had a breadth of witnesses and it seems very clear at this point that certain members of the committee are listening to certain witnesses and others are listening to other witnesses. I guess it depends on where you are coming from who you want to give emphasis to, but the whole point of having a variety of witnesses is that you hear more than one point of view.
We have heard more than one point of view from persons with disabilities, who, I felt, spoke in a very heartfelt and personal way about their personal experiences, and also from physicians, family practitioners and even academics who have a variety of opinions.
The whole point of having a reflection period, as was in the original legislation, is for it to be patient-centred. I'm hearing comments here that everyone at that point is sure of what they are doing. With respect, I don't see how that's necessarily possible when we've also heard testimony about transient suicidal ideation and about people who do change their minds.
My colleague MP Cooper spoke about the Quebec example, but the number he had went only to March 2018. The further report we have that comes right up to date from Quebec's annual end-of-life care report said that, since 2015, over 300 patients in Quebec alone changed their mind after requesting medical assistance in dying.
There are already exceptions existing under the original law for those whose death is fast approaching and for people who will soon lose the capacity required to provide the necessary informed consent, so they're already contemplative. This 10-day reflection period gives the patient—not the doctors, not the nurse practitioners, not the people around them, not their families—the opportunity and the ability to change their mind, and we should give them that autonomy.
We have talked a lot here about autonomy. We've talked a lot here about a patient focus. This is what this is meant to do.
If there are 300 people in Quebec alone who have changed their minds—I wish I had national statistics but they are hard to find—and there are 10 provinces in Canada, that means there are probably thousands of Canadians who have changed their minds. They should have the ability to do that, and that's what this is speaking to.
Thank you.