I have heard these claims too, but I don't think there's really any basis for them. I think in most cases in many parts of the country, palliative care funding is increasing, and increasing quite substantially. My own division in Ottawa has roughly doubled in size, including a large increase in salaried positions over the past few years. I think that has largely been the case in much of Ontario.
I know that it's not the case across the country, and I'm not claiming that it is, but definitely there has been a substantial increase, I think, in funding for staff and funding for beds, which unfortunately we're just generally missing staff for and can't always fill. That's super-important to state.
In terms of resources and our resources being stolen, I think it's also important to remember that if somebody is at end of life and is suffering, and they are getting resources, I find it hard to understand why people would say that it's an inappropriate use of palliative resources. I'd really regret if any member of the palliative care community would say that it's stealing resources. The resources belong to the patients. They are patient resources, not my resources and not anyone else's resources. They are for them. If they are nearing the end of life and suffering, and the resources go to them, good. The fact that they have chosen MAID shouldn't make them ineligible for resources.