Justice committee  The reason we differentiated advance directives on the one hand and those other two subjects on the other is that, as I think we all recognize, the issues with regard to mature minors and mental illness are a level of complexity that does call for additional study. In our respe

Justice committee  Each requires that the person be given an opportunity to withdraw a request and ensures that the person give express consent, so it is a premise of that provision that the person be capable and competent to give express consent. An advance directive is obviously a context in whic

Justice committee  The general proposition that I was citing for the committee, particularly when we're dealing with the criminal law, was that it's critical that persons subject to that law know what their legal jeopardy is in advance of performing the act. So, to the extent that language describi

Justice committee  Perhaps I'll field that one. I think it's understood that in Carter “the right to life, liberty and security of the person” is engaged by legislation that would prohibit an individual's right to self-determine their own medical treatment and choices. The question would be not wh

Justice committee  Well, I don't think it can be said that Carter compels the extension of this opportunity to advance directives. I think the logic of Carter, however, compels that conclusion. I think what you can be assured of is that if advance directives are not incorporated into this bill, t

Justice committee  Honourable members of Parliament, Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you this afternoon. Before you is Margaret Birrell, who is president of the alliance. My name is Angus Gunn, and I have served as litigation counsel for the alliance since 2011. I have be

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I accept all the observations made by the honourable member. We don't have draft legislation. The reality is that the translation of all that data—and I acknowledge it's a mountain—the translation of that mountain into operational legislation is the most critical phase of the pro

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I'm sorry, but I'm not in a position to respond to that, and I think Ms. Birrell is not either.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  That's correct.

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  It would go beyond my brief as counsel for the alliance to go there. In my submission, the government has indicated its intention to respect the spirit and letter of Carter, so to the extent that the commitment has been made, it would seem to be incompatible to invoke the notwith

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you for the question. The driver behind the submission presented today is the reality of the constitutional constraints in which this debate is happening. It's a premise of Professor Hogg's submission—and I have the utmost respect for Professor Hogg and his scholarship—tha

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  I'll let Ms. Birrell supplement this answer, but I would say no. The example given was dementia. This is an example in which the patient would, presumably, at the end of life not have the decision-making capacity to provide informed consent. However, if an advance directive had b

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you for the question. I share the concern that attempting to codify a definition of either term will end up resulting in harm. There is no question that, with the advances of medical science, which conditions are grievous and which ones are irremediable will change over ti

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Thank you for the question. In my prepared remarks I suggested that the implementation of Carter itself—which is, as we've discussed, restricted to its own facts—could be done with a rather minimal amendment to sections 14 and 241(b) provisions that were impugned. In the event t

Physician-Assisted Dying committee  Let me reverse that. I think what should be on the “now” list is that which is subject to the short fuse, and that's Carter, so adult patients with all the conditions identified in Carter. I say that is what is driving this timeline. I think everyone can agree that these are issu