Thank you very much for the question.
When we're talking about medical assistance in dying.... It's such a foreign concept in the first nations world, in my experience growing up on the reserve, and in all the work I've done and continue to do. As I said in a previous answer, conversations are always required and necessary for governments, as well as medical service providers, to understand the values, morals and perspectives. We look at the world through the teachings of the medicine wheel—the emotional, the spiritual, the physical and the mental. Those are very real to us. Those were almost lost to us. Conversations are always going to be necessary. Even after conversations are had, more conversations are still going to be needed, so whatever dialogue...whomever....
I know there are many first nations and indigenous people involved in the medical field, as both practitioners and analysts. I mentioned Joyce Echaquan a while ago—what she went through and the medical experience she had. Sadly, it's not any different for many of us who go from our first nation community—called a reserve—to the local hospital in town. We just know it's not a welcoming environment. How do you trust that? How do you trust an environment where you're looked down upon? The findings of the Wabano health centre here in Ottawa, as well as the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition, are the opinions and findings of people they spoke with, and who responded to interviews and questions. Look at those conclusions. I really hope you hear from the Wabano health clinic and Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition. I'm sure they would have a lot of thoughtful and meaningful things to say based on their experiences.