Thank you.
Good morning. Bonjour. Kwe.
I'm Dr. Gail Beck. I am the interim psychiatrist-in-chief and chief of staff at the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, a psychiatric hospital based in Ottawa. I served on the expert panel on the state of knowledge of medical assistance in dying, specifically on the mature minors working group. My remarks this morning really reference that report.
I want to call attention to a couple of those areas, particularly in relation to capacity, and comment that the areas where clinicians struggle with patients and their families considering MAID for mature minors include development, both cognitive and psychosocial. One of the things in particular to highlight from the written remarks you received is the fact that development of cognitive skills continues well into a person's twenties and mid-twenties, and while this goes beyond the age of mature minors, it's important that clinicians keep this mind. As my hospital reopens its medical assistance in dying committee, we are keeping this very much in mind for all of our patients.
For us, culture is also a consideration. For any of us who manage the care of youth, it's always necessary to work closely with families. We try very hard to be humble in consideration of a family's culture and of a family's influence on a young person with a serious illness, especially when that illness is irremediable and causing considerable suffering.
Finally, family and other relationships are very important to youth, but independence in decision-making is something that many of them are coming to grips with. There's nothing that causes a young person to grow up more than suddenly having a chronic and especially serious illness that can cause death. When we consider the assessment of these young people, we're very careful to make sure that we balance the considerations of their families as well as their own personal developing independence.
In closing, I want to thank you all for the opportunity to address this Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying. I would be happy to address any questions you have.
Thank you.