Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Sure. I will just speak about the experience we had, because that's our lived experience. Friday evening, Markus thought that he was going to go, and he called us all to his bedside and told us that he loved us. Saturday morning, when he was still with us and I said to him, “Markus, should I see if your buddies are able to come to the hospice?”

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  About six months before Markus was diagnosed, I had an uncle who was 69 and was diagnosed with stomach cancer. He did not have his first appointment with an oncologist until after he passed away. Our doctors, through the child system, were always ahead of us. My uncle's wife had to run around all over the place trying to find treatment for him, trying to find the right medication, trying to address every symptom that came up.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you for the question. I think we need to remember that perspective is everything. We also need to acknowledge the influence and ability of parents, of government and of health care providers to influence children in our country. If the perspective through suffering is that this suffering is going to get worse, and that unimaginable things might or could happen to you, and that your life might be very short, then that leads to despair.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I think as we've seen in other demographics in our country, that obligation to consider is happening more and more. While we were at Canuck Place hospice, on more than one occasion we expressed gratitude that euthanasia for children was not legal in Canada and that it was not part of the suite of options the doctors and health care providers had in order to treat our son.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Markus died just six short months ago, on May 29, 2022, only 15 months after his diagnosis. If he were here today, his appeal to you would be to not expand euthanasia to minors, for two reasons. First, earlier this month, it was reported in the news that CAMAP, the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers, is recommending that physicians have an obligation to bring up medical assistance in dying with patients who meet eligibility requirements.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  We thank you very much for inviting us here to share our lived experience of walking alongside a child with a terminal illness. It's our hope that through our testimony today you'll receive some insight into how to deliberate and what to recommend to Parliament. My wife will begin, and then I will conclude.