Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Okay. I'm sorry. Thank you, Cheryl.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Was he determined, if that's the right word, to proceed?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Okay, well let me just back up. On what basis had he applied for MAID?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  That was the reason he gave.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Okay, but had he at some point requested MAID?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Did you have any discussion with him at that moment? Did you say, “I didn't know you'd requested MAID. Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Was he of sound mind at that moment, as far as you know?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Was he aware, as that process...? If this was all being carried out legally, of course, the doctors and the assistant who is with him, whether it's a nurse or another doctor, must ask—

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  They must describe the process and ask.... Did he give that final consent?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Okay, thanks for clarifying that, because I did not understand that the first time through. Ms. Romaire, if I can come back to you on a similar kind of issue of process, then, you applied and asked for MAID. In that first request, in which you were rejected and it was not accepted, what was your reason?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  That's what you wrote on the forms, and the doctors or the assessors then said what to you at that point? I'm talking about the first round.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you very much, Co-Chairs. I know that this is very difficult, and I'm sorry that we're subjecting you to this, but I'd like to go back to Mr. and Mrs. Nichols, if I could. The reason you're hearing these questions is that it's quite stunning for us that there were no doctors involved in this process, that a nurse filled out the form and then carried out—I hesitate to call it a MAID procedure—the procedure with no doctors present.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I want to say a word about the legislation because one of the witnesses raised it. This legislation is not designed to be pre-emptive. It's a bit of reality. The Senate takes a little bit longer than the House of Commons to do things, and we will not get to this issue until the fall.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Okay. I'm so sorry.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  So you would just say that the child, regardless of their lived experience, should not be allowed to make those decisions?

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I'd like to get some thoughts from both of you on this. We'll start with Dr. Montes. As you said, you were listening to the testimony. We've discussed this notion of decisional capacity versus actual age. As someone who works with children under 18 all the time, would you agree that there are children who are nine, 12, 14 or 17, but who have life experiences or who have lived with profound illnesses or pain, who might well be in a place to have the ability to make key decisions, perhaps in some cases as well as or even better than somebody who's 45 or 70 and who doesn't make wise decisions?