Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Good evening. My name is Dr. Hartley Stern. I am the executive director and CEO of the Canadian Medical Protective Association, CMPA. Honourable senators and members of Parliament, thank you for this opportunity to appear before you. In the time available to me I will touch upon

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  You have asked several questions. I want to make sure that I understand them more clearly. You talked about oversight, and I assume you mean oversight at the end of the process. I think you also alluded to the issue of review prior to the decision-making. I think—if I understand

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I think I've narrowed it down to two questions here, and I don't mean that in anything other than a.... There's no insult intended. I really am trying to make sure I answer your questions appropriately. With respect to the number of physicians or the specialist versus family pr

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  It's been three years since I left Quebec, and there are some specifics of the implementation of this that I am not current with. When we read Quebec's act, we felt that it offered a very elegant solution to a very complex problem for physicians, and that is that for those who

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  We, like everyone else who has appeared before you, have wrestled with this most complex issue of conscience. I know very well that in the Carter decision the Supreme Court specifically said that it is improper or unacceptable to compel a physician to participate in assisted dyin

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I'm not a lawyer, but I believe that lawyers who know what good faith is could incorporate that into your legislation in a way that would be helpful to the situation.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  With great respect, there are a number of errors in your hypothesis here.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Doctors don't pay premiums to us. We are not an insurance company. We are a not-for-profit mutual liability protection system. They pay fees each year, and they're not based on their individual risk. They're based on their risk as a physician. An obstetrician, who is at higher ri

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Just to be very clear on the impact of this legislation, there will be no impact on what physicians pay us in the way of fees.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Rather than focus on the model, I think I would focus on the words. For me, and in my interpretation, the issue is around good faith. Physicians who act in good faith under the law should be immune from prosecution. Whether it's bad faith, indifference, or a casual approach, that

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  It's a very important question, but our perspective is really around the patient and the importance of consistency across the country so that a patient anywhere in the country has equal access, under the law, to physician-assisted dying. We absolutely believe that federal legis

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  There really are two levels of freedom of conscience here. The first is those physicians who are uncomfortable for reasons of conscience to participate in responding to the request of the patient but who feel comfortable with referring the patient to a different physician who wou

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I think this is an absolute necessity. Our concerns are that some provinces may not entertain legislation. In the absence of legislation on this very important social policy, both physicians and patients will be left in limbo with a significant amount of uncertainty. That will be

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I absolutely believe that it is a federal legislative requirement, for the reasons I entertain. It is for consistency of access for those patients. If we go back to my original point, the physician who feels insecure because of uncertainty is not going to be able to enter into

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  To be clear, we have no formal objection to a judicial review, with a couple of caveats. Our concerns are those of limiting access through a complex process that may make it more difficult for the patient to actually achieve access to physician-assisted dying. That is provided t