Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his very kind comments and the general support of his party.
We decided to have two regimes in order to keep doctors and nurses on board who were familiar with the original regime and add the possibility for others. There is a different set of balances in the non-end-of-life scenario. We heard from people who see themselves as vulnerable or susceptible to influence, like people living with disabilities for example, at round tables and this was an existential question for them.
This is the assessment period; it is not a reflection period. We have eliminated all reflection periods. This is the period of time in which the doctor or the nurse practitioner is assessing the condition with the patient. There are other proactive things the doctor or nurse practitioner has to do. We wanted to give an adequate amount of time for reflection. Some jurisdictions have six months in this scenario. We shortened that. We wanted to give enough time for adequate reflection. With catastrophic injury, for example, the first reaction is often that a person would rather die, but with time, a very short period of time, and after assessing the possibilities for life, a person makes a different decision.
This is really just adding to the assessment period, making sure that there is adequate discussion, adequate informing of the possibilities and consideration of the possibilities, while still understanding that people are suffering intolerably. We understand that, but feel this is an appropriate period that is not too long. It is certainly not as long as some of the other examples.