Physician-Assisted Dying committee  No, I do not think that exists. The request must always come from the person who wants to die. Physician-assisted dying may not be requested by a third party. There are, however, advance directives, that is to say situations where the request was made by the person before they l

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Yes, that is correct.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Rarely, but, yes, it is done. In such cases, it is done at the request of the parents, and with their consent.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  The court was very well aware that in a context where there is an absolute rule, but exceptions are being created, one exception could lead to another. In this matter, as my colleague said, no matter where we draw the line, there will always be people on either side of the line.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  If a person is unable to speak but has another means of communicating, it is always possible for that person to make his or her wishes known. However, if the person has no means of communicating, we cannot know if the person understands. There is nothing in the Supreme Court ruli

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  In addition to that report, at the same time that this panel was consulting with Canadians and experts on behalf of the federal government, the provinces and territories appointed an advisory group to undertake largely the same activity but in aid of the provincial and territoria

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I think what will happen is that this committee will make its report to the two chambers of Parliament. Then the ministers will consider the report. In the normal course, they would be discussing with their cabinet colleagues what the federal government's policy ought to be. From

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  All I really feel comfortable saying is that we at the Department of Justice are very well aware of the timelines, and we know the committee is as well.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I only wanted to add, if it's at all helpful to the committee, that in the Benelux laws, which have the broader scope of eligibility for individuals who are chronically but not terminally ill, there is not one of them that distinguishes between mental illness and other types of i

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Yes, I think that is the answer. It's very much going to be in the details of what are the kinds of communities where only certain types of medical professionals are available. I've been told that there are some communities in the north where no physicians are available. There

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  What you have before you now is the report of the federal external panel that was created by the last government, by the ministers of justice and health, to consult with Canadians, experts, and stakeholders. Originally they were tasked with providing legislative options to the go

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  That is yet another very good question. Unfortunately, I'm not very familiar with provincial and territorial legislation on coroners. It is my understanding that unnatural deaths are brought to the attention of coroners, and then an investigation is undertaken. In terms of whet

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I'm not able to share any concerns necessarily with the adequacy of those laws. All I can do for the benefit of this committee is to relay that the jurisdictions that have legalized physician-assisted dying have found that it was necessary to have fairly specific procedures tailo

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  No, I think that in the Benelux countries—if I were permitted the time, I could look it up, since I have it with me—there must be a fairly close temporal connection between the advance directive and the wishes being carried out. It may be up to five years. I would have to confirm

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  That is what is not entirely clear. Certainly many commentators have said there's nothing in the Supreme Court's decision that says this is limited to people who are terminally ill. On the other hand, there's nothing in the Supreme Court decision that clearly says this is not lim