Justice committee  In palliative care, there are major fluctuations in a patient's condition: one day the patient is fine, the next they are delirious and, three days later, they are fine again. This makes it very difficult. We need a bill, and the bill passed sets out the minimum criteria. Above all, the objective was to prevent abuse.

Justice committee  Exactly, yes.

Justice committee  I'd like to add another point quickly. From the time discussions began, I have been sorry to see that the patient is often forgotten. Ultimately, the core issue is the dignity of the patient, of the individual. We should do everything to help the patient. Issues related to physicians and so forth are important, to be sure, but the core issue is often forgotten.

Justice committee  In the beginning it was written that way. The first version of the bill that was tabled included many points that we considered important. Through discussion, the political parties were able to come to an agreement. It was example of real dialogue. Partisan politics did not come into play.

Justice committee  We will have to consider this later. For the time being, we have an important law for patients and we will let it operate for a few months or a few years. We will discuss this possibility later on, bearing in mind the experience of other countries. For now, we believe that it would be premature to include minors.

Justice committee  The phrase “reasonably foreseeable” is certainly open to interpretation. In palliative care, for example, which is the field that I know the best, we have mostly cancer patients. In their case, it is fairly straightforward because the death of patients who are in palliative care and are in the advanced stages of cancer can be predicted in a reasonable period of time.

Justice committee  In Quebec, as you know, the law has been ongoing for a few months from the time everything was done well. I believe the number of patients was, the Collège des médeciins thinks, about 15 or 20. Everything has gone very smoothly; everything is good. As far as expanding the law to minors is concerned, I think it's a little early for us.

Justice committee  The second major problem is that of advance medical directives. The Association wholeheartedly supports the spirit of the seventh recommendation made by the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying, to allow for advance requests for medical assistance in dying for persons having received a diagnosis of a neurodegenerative disease that is reasonably likely to lead to a loss of competence, in order to enable the person or their representative to exercise this option when they wish.