Yes, and you're absolutely right, in that a 21-year-old who is not competent would not meet the eligibility criteria for the purposes of physician-assisted death. Age by itself would not be sufficient. That would apply on the north side of 18 or on the south side of 18.
Also, when we looked at current practice within health care—this is not just in Canada, this is broadly—what we saw is an increasing recognition, particularly in pediatric settings, that some children, but especially adolescents, have the competence and the capacity to make end-of-life decisions, and in fact are empowered and encouraged to be able to be active participants in that.
We wanted to be able to acknowledge this, to acknowledge that what this turns on is not their age—it's not what their birth certificate says—but really their ability to appreciate and understand the diagnosis and their options. Many of these children, these adolescents, would have had a period of time when they may have been sick for a great deal of time. They may reach a point where they say, “I know this better than anyone else does, and my life experience is far richer because of this experience.” One of the concerns is that a 16-year-old hasn't had the life experience to make such decisions. Well, many of us haven't had the life experience to make an end-of-life decision until we're faced with it, but many of these young people actually have the competency to do so.
We're not saying to let us liberalize to the point that any child who says, “I want physician-assisted death” should have access. The stringency of this criterion related to competence is essential.