Thank you for that question.
The short answer is no, we did not find that there is a slippery slope of people being pressured to end their lives.
On the contrary, the folks who I spoke with—roughly 50 people who were quite impoverished and there were some substance users as well, in Alberta and in British Columbia, primarily in Vancouver and Calgary—rather than being worried about being pressured to end their lives, were concerned about being prevented and not knowing where to go to access end-of-life care. That's what you raised about not knowing the resources.
There was a concern that, like all other aspects of their health care, they would be prevented from accessing this. It's very difficult when you're living on the street to access any health care. End-of-life care and MAID in particular was seen as an extension of that. Rather than feeling pressured, there was a fear of being prevented from accessing it.
If I can add a comment to that as well, I will never forget this one gentleman who said to me that not every overdose is unintentional. He reminded me that people have the ability to end their lives quite readily available to them.
I think the question we have to grapple with in this committee and as a society is that the state doesn't owe anyone a dignified death, but if we can provide one to someone who is suffering grievously, why would we withhold that from them?