Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I think capacity has to be assessed by the doctor, obviously taking into account the condition from which the person is suffering. When we're talking about mental disorders, there is some influence on capacity, that being my experience. As far as full disclosure is concerned, I think we have to disclose that with a particular condition, for example, there's anywhere between a zero and 100% chance of irremediability, because we don't have the data.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  The access to MAID for mental disorder alone has not—

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  No, I didn't say that. I said that CASP supports the right of individuals who are capable of making decisions to access MAID when death is foreseeable, and we don't take those into account. I do know that in other jurisdictions where this has been entered in, suicide rates did not drop, which means there were additional deaths because of MAID.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I don't think so. In the particular case that you gave, the condition has gone on for a long time. It's not unreasonable to think that it's going to last for a long time. Also, to my mind, you said she doesn't want to undergo further treatment. The question really is whether we want to be a party to helping people die prematurely.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  No, I don't. My personal experience tells me that you can be in a state of mind and suffering from severe depression that you believe is going to last the rest of your life. If somebody were to ask me if I was ever going to get better, I would have said definitively that I will not get better and that it has gone on too long.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  The answer is no, because—

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Actually—

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  It opens the door. Just to be clear, I'm talking about conditions that do not involve a reasonable foreseeability of death. In the previous session, Dr. Smith spent a lot of time talking about dementia, and I don't understand why we would be going through this mental disorder route.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  I'm advised by those at CAMH in Toronto that they have no evidence and by other prominent researchers in the area—Dr. Mishara and Dr. Sinyor. There's just no evidence. The studies would have to be done.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you. Good afternoon, honourable members of this special joint committee. I am Sean Krausert, the executive director of the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention. Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments as you undertake this statutory review of provisions of the Criminal Code relating to medical assistance in dying and their application.