Justice committee  In light of continuing pressures, increasing litigation loads, increasing legal risks, the department looked at the future where continued growth didn't seem like the best solution. Like the rest of the legal industry, realizing that there are opportunities to use technology bett

Justice committee  It's not prescribed or detailed by paragraph 127. The issue and the considerations that certainly have manifested themselves in the studies of the provincial-territorial advisory committee, the external panel of the special joint committee, went beyond what was before the court i

Justice committee  You are correct that it is conceivable. Where a nurse practitioner has been the one providing ongoing care in remote communities that we know exist from coast to coast to coast, where that's been delegated and authorized by a province, it is conceivable that under the law, if it'

Justice committee  Yes, I believe we would be the only jurisdiction in the world, and I believe that the scope of what nurse practitioners do is not commonly shared throughout the world either.

Justice committee  If that's the committee's recommendation, that would be considered by the government and it would ultimately be determined. As you hear from other witnesses trying to consider the implications, practical access, continuity of care, and familiarity with the individuals and their c

Justice committee  We would have to look at it. I'm not aware of the circumstances in which that is a concern. We'd have to look at it. I would say that in respect of the scope of federal jurisdiction under the criminal law, we would also be focusing on the extent to which provisions that are inser

Justice committee  If it's the committee's wish, in terms of the completion of the study, we can certainly look at that.

Justice committee  In particular, you referred to paragraph (a) and the wording “serious and incurable”. Paragraph (c) makes it clear that the suffering is intolerable and cannot be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable, which is a slightly different formulation than the one used

Justice committee  I think that government would be open to all carefully considered opportunities to improve the bill and would look forward to carefully study any amendments that would be proposed. I would suggest, based on all of my experience on legislative drafting, that trying to cover-off ev

Justice committee  We can look at it. It's illness, disease, or disability, and it covers a very wide range of circumstances, some of which will have happened in a heartbeat and some of which will have evolved over many years. We could look at whether that would make it clearer. It presumably woul

Justice committee  We should confirm that it is our analysis and the government's belief that this does comply with both the Carter decision and section 7 of the charter. We should confirm, as has been previously confirmed by ministers, that we believe the complex regulatory regime, which is what C

Justice committee  First of all, the term “grievous and irremediable” is not a term that is littered throughout either the criminal law or medical practice. It's not generally been defined, and it's not defined by the Supreme Court of Canada decision. Nonetheless, it's clearly not meant to apply

Justice committee  Just to respond very quickly to the honourable member, Canada is a big and complicated country. There is no federation in the world that has taken on medical assistance in dying from a federal perspective in the way that Canada has. One of the choices that the government has made

Justice committee  Maybe I'll start, and others can add to it. The law is designed to respond to the overall circumstance of someone who is on the passage towards death. It is not designed to respond to a situation that changed someone's life circumstance after an accident, or where they get a dia

Justice committee  First, I would say, as the two ministers indicated, that the government has very much acknowledged that protection of conscience rights is an important consideration in moving forward with this. Also the Supreme Court of Canada obviously acknowledged that among the various rights