Physician-Assisted Dying committee  You mentioned in your presentation that there are some jurisdictions—the Netherlands, for example—where standard packages of drugs are available, as well as detailed technical guidelines. Given that you need to have the drugs approved and that they need to be readily available in all parts of Canada so that we don't run out of them like isotopes or something like that, are there any barriers to this being done in Canada?

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Would that be the responsibility of Health Canada?

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  To the psychiatric association, you just said—and you testified to this in front of the external panel—that when a patient who has a mental illness requests physician-assisted death but it's for another condition, let's say cancer, the mental health people should be brought in to do an assessment.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  On the side, you referred to the social determinants of health, in that there may be other issues that could perhaps help move someone away. That certainly is the position of the last panel, although they didn't talk about it. Do you want to say more about that, whatever you think about it?

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Yes, poverty, lack of access, bad food, no housing, and homelessness.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Yes. Thank you for being here. I want to take your minds to vulnerable persons. What does “vulnerability” mean? Who are vulnerable persons? How will we recognize them? What specific measures do you propose to protect vulnerable persons from being induced to commit suicide at a time of weakness?

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  And how many agreed? There were two answers, “strongly agree” and “agree”. What were they combined? My understanding is that they made 62% combined.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  So does that mean that a patient and the doctor—

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Yes. It was on the 62%.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you for your work and for being here tonight. In your issues book in eligibility scenario number 3, you asked Canadians whether they should be able to receive physician-assisted death based on an advance directive. Sixty-two per cent of the balanced representative sample agreed or strongly agreed.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I'm happy to do so, but my question was on your report, in which 62% strongly agreed or agreed that this was a good thing and that it received the most support. Is that correct? While the secretariat is finding the answer to that question, I'll go on. One of the things that amazes me when we talk about the other jurisdictions is that all the Benelux countries, Switzerland, and the states in America that have physician-assisted death could all fit within Canada and we'd still have space, so I think the geographical framework in which we are making these decisions is very important, although we might not have the population that all of those countries combined have.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  In the parts of northern Quebec or in very rural areas where there may only be a nurse or even a nurse practitioner, do you allow teleconferencing? How is instruction given and how is consent given?

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  There's no prior consent in the Quebec law—prior to, say, getting dementia.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  In some states in the United States, assisted suicide is allowed, but not euthanasia. In contrast, in the Benelux countries, both assisted suicide and euthanasia are allowed. Quebec has chosen to permit euthanasia but not assisted suicide. Can you explain what the debate was and how Quebec came to the decision it did?