Finance committee  I think it's great that we're sitting next to the sports people, because palliative care is not just about the last few days or weeks of life. Palliative care begins much earlier in the illness trajectory. We have to start changing our concept of what palliative care is. One of the programs we're starting up in Ottawa is a palliative care rehabilitation program.

Finance committee  At the provincial level it's a hodgepodge. There are centres of excellence and there are regions with excellent coverage. In Alberta, for example, they have been able to reallocate acute care dollars. They haven't taken any more new dollars; they have just reallocated acute care dollars to invest into proper home care palliative programs and hospices.

Finance committee  That's a core question and it goes to this great debate that we as a society are engaged in. It's interesting, because it's terminology that gets thrown around a lot without us really understanding it and with many of us imposing what we think on someone else in terms of quality of life or dignity.

Finance committee  Thank you very much for that question. First of all, one of the most important stands we're taking is that there are still too many gaps in adequate palliative care services in the country. I had a very interesting experience. I'm probably the only palliative care physician in Canada who has worked in a jurisdiction that allows assisted suicide.

Finance committee  Thank you very much. I'm Dr. José Pereira. I'm a palliative care physician and I'm head and professor of palliative care at the University of Ottawa and at the Bruyère Continuing Care facility here in Ottawa. l would like to speak to the two recommendations in our submitted brief.