Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I understand that, Your Eminence, but that's not where we are.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Again, you're preaching to the choir here, because all of us would believe there ought to be more readily accessible, better palliative care available to more Canadians, but again that's not our issue. Our issue is, and maybe Mr. Worthen can address this issue of precisely what a

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Surely if there are safeguards in place, and physicians or other health professionals disregard or circumvent those precautions, then that's a disciplinary matter for the College of Physicians and Surgeons or the nurses' association.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  We're talking about Canada.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I don't mean to be—

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Welcome to the witnesses, and thank you for your evidence. Your Eminence, I appreciate your faith-based opposition to physician-assisted dying, but that's not the issue before us. The court has made a decision and we're bound by that decision, and physician-assisted dying is a c

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  But I don't understand how.... I can understand how an individual can have a conscientious objection, but how does a building have a conscientious objection? How does it have an ethical—

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I'm always happy to help Senator Seidman. I was just going to follow up with Dr. Smith first, and then perhaps invite our other guests to comment as well. It's about this whole business of access and making sure that Canadians, at this critical stage in their lives, at the end o

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Excuse me. I was speaking about a sort of overall framework rather than a detailed bureaucratic regime, but with standards that are available—

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Can I ask Professor Ells to comment briefly on that?

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  That also applies to assessment of capacity and competence.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Sure. That's right. If a physician in our current system is in any doubt about capacity or competence—and I agree with you that it depends on the severity of the procedure that's involved—they might ask for a second opinion, or indeed the opinion of a specialist. The nature of th

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Could I shift for a moment to the issue of access? Again, I think we have to make sure that the system that is designed and the service that is available will be available, as best as it can be accomplished, for Canadians from coast to coast to coast, regardless of where they liv

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you.