Madam Speaker, I believe that any legislative response needs to adhere to the parameters of Carter. What the Supreme Court said with respect to minors is “competent adult person”. If the Supreme Court contemplated minors, the Supreme Court would have said so, but it did not say that. It was very clear in saying “competent adult person”.
Similarly, with respect to advance directives, the Supreme Court said that persons who were suffering intolerably from a grievous and irremediable condition have a right to physician-assisted dying, not persons who anticipate that they will suffer from a grievous and irremediable condition.
I would also note that in the province of Quebec, which cast Bill 52, over the course of six years, three national assemblies, and three different governments, advance directives were initially in the first draft of Bill 52, but they were ultimately removed from the legislation when it was passed by the Quebec National Assembly, because legislators in Quebec were not satisfied that advance directives could be incorporated into the legislation without mitigating significant risks.