Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I think we learn from mistakes. Going out, we know very little about how it's going to play out in Canadian society. Opinions are very dichotomized around this. I think a review would serve all sides in this situation. If we proceed without a review, we won't know what we've done

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Some examples are: how assessment of competency is done; how physicians have the conversation with their patients; whether or not the patients feel comfortable enough to broach the subject knowing that there are going to be physicians who are not comfortable providing that kind o

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  We could see that happening as long as the proper information, education, training, and support were provided to the health care professionals involved in administering that. We don't say that physicians should be the only ones, because we know that circumstances are different ar

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  The protection of vulnerable peoples is really important, and I think the assessment of competency is vital to this. We're talking about two different things here: the protection of the vulnerable people and making sure the person seeking assisted dying is really sure this is wh

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  We understand that there are many faith-based institutions that provide hospice and palliative care. It's even more important in those situations that a good, effective process of transfer of care does happen, as we've been talking about, especially in the more remote communities

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I think a review process serves to make sure that effective mechanisms are in play. As this practice and this legislation rolls out, we're not going to know what it looks like. So in terms of helping both the institution and the physician make better choices down the road, I thin

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I think it should be an objective party, whether it's a committee put together by various stakeholders.... It should not be the institution that provided the care and it shouldn't be the physician who provided the care, but someone objective. And I think the review is even more—

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I'm sorry, can you—

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I think the options are there, as long as no biases are built in, as long as there's a process to make sure that the reviews are objective and that there are no preconceived agendas.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you for the opportunity to present before this joint committee. As far back as the early 1970s, the Canadian Unitarian Council has advocated for the right of a terminally ill patient to make decisions about the time and manner of their death. We were involved as intervenor