Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to our witnesses for helping guide this committee through a very serious subject matter. It's one that I know many Canadians are paying attention to.
Ms. Cohen, I'll start with you. I appreciate that you are nervous appearing before a parliamentary committee, but I can assure you that all members around this table do appreciate your being here. We want to make this as comfortable as possible for you.
When you were talking in your opening statement about how this process has been rushed, I can understand the fears that you have with the timeline. This joint committee did exist in the previous Parliament, but it had to be reconstituted in the 44th Parliament. We've really only been under way since April. We've been working with less than a year, until March of next year, when the law will be changed and mental disorder as a sole underlying condition will be allowed under our Criminal Code.
You also made it very clear that you are not opposed to medical assistance in dying, but that you had very real concerns that there were no meaningful discussions on capacity, on vulnerabilities and on specific safeguards. Therefore, given that our committee is ultimately tailoring a report with recommendations to the federal government, do you have any comments specifically on...? Should we recommend that the March deadline be pushed back? What additional steps would you specifically like to see the federal government take in addressing the concerns that you have so clearly outlined in your testimony?