Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon and good morning to all of you. When I addressed the committee last year, I drew on the government's annual report on MAID to provide a statistical overview of assisted dying in Canada. You have access to our latest report for the calendar year 2020, so I will note just a few key points.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Yes. Thank you. I can speak further about research that we will also be supporting to complement the federal monitoring system. We also want to review the various approaches to MAID delivery and oversight adopted across Canada to identify challenges and successes, which can then inform policy and planning.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Madam Chair, I'd be pleased to make some initial comments on this point. While we collect, at the federal level, data on virtually every aspect of the requirements that are set out in the Criminal Code—and we publish that, as you know—the responsibility for actual oversight and compliance with the law is principally the responsibility of provinces and territories.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  No, there is not.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  That is based on reports from provinces and territories about MAID cases in their jurisdiction. They have responsibility for enforcement and compliance, so it would be natural that we would rely on data about their activities. As I say, in most cases this involves a hands-on approach to every single MAID case.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  To our knowledge, it would fewer than 10.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I would make a distinction—

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Madam Chair, if I could respond to that, I'll simply say that we are monitoring the practice of MAID in Canada and fulfilling our role as the federal government. Compliance, as I said, is the responsibility of provinces and territories. I would also note that in the early days of MAID, there might have been some administrative shortfalls, and that's not to say that they might not persist among some new providers.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I'm referring to serious non-compliance, not to administrative missteps that are inconsequential to the actual eligibility decision and the decision by the provider to proceed with MAID.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you, Mr. Thériault. Health Canada acts as the secretariat and supports the work of the panel. As required in the legislation, it is an entirely independent process. I think I can assure you that the panel's report will be available in the month of May; it may be in the latter half of that month.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Madam Chair and Mr. Thériault, no, we do not have that date yet. It will be published in the annual report for 2021, which, unfortunately, will likely be some few weeks after this committee completes its work. I would say, based on our observation and reports from the provider community, that there is nothing to suggest that the profile of where these procedures have taken place is any different.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  There are just a couple of comments I could make. One is that I think we have seen this same sort of situation play out in the early days of MAID. I think practitioners at the time were very concerned about their ability and their capacity and, frankly, whether they would have the legal protections they needed if they proceeded with their practice of MAID.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I cannot speak with absolute certainty, but the impression that one has talking to providers and looking at some of the data—and frankly, some of this is anecdotal data—is that the individuals who seek MAID are generally reasonably well educated. They may be middle-class professionals.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  That is correct at the present time, and that is absolutely something we need to fix. Bill C-7 directed the Minister of Health to develop regulations that would ensure that we would collect that kind of data. That is what we are doing.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you, Senator Kutcher. Maybe one of my colleagues from Health Canada can, but off the top of my head I cannot give you an indication of the number of individuals who have a comorbid situation of a physical illness and a psychological or mental condition. If one of my colleagues can answer that, I will ask them to do so, but I think at this point we don't really have that data.