Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Yes, and when we think about access to any health care information.... My fellow witnesses spoke about systemic ableism. We have systemic racism. We have all kinds of reasons why people are discouraged from accessing services and feel that they're not safe. Health care is one of

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you for that question. The short answer is no, we did not find that there is a slippery slope of people being pressured to end their lives. On the contrary, the folks who I spoke with—roughly 50 people who were quite impoverished and there were some substance users as we

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  There is a need for additional social supports. Vulnerable people, in many different experiences, are asking for more support, but the folks—I'm talking about people experiencing homelessness—are fighters. They're fighting to survive every day. They need more support to survive,

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  For me, it is how we frame vulnerability, too. What I was trying to say in my opening statement is not to shift away from thinking about vulnerability in the ways that people are personally experiencing it. It's thinking about who is vulnerable to having their rights to make that

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Perhaps this is quite a bold response, but who are any of us in this room to decide how long someone has to suffer and how much their suffering has to be before they're granted the right to access an assisted death? I worry about having additional measures imposed on to people th

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  The issue of voluntariness is an important one. To answer your question, I've spoken with and interviewed physicians involved in each of the three known MAID cases. Certainly, the questioning by the assessors and the providers of the necessity of having guards, for example, or

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  The short answer is no. I don't have information on track two yet. We do need to look at those updated numbers since August 2020. I know there's certainly fear within the prison system of bringing up the possibility of seeking MAID because it's sometimes still equated to suicide

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Several facilities offer specialized care. For example, Pacific Institution in Abbotsford has a palliative care program within the prison facility. They also have a peer support program. Some of the younger, healthier men care for some of the older, less healthy men. There has be

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  It is. In another study that one of my colleagues did with 14 palliative care prisoners who had applied for parole by exception, four were granted parole. Those are folks who really are at the end of their lives.

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Sure. I would just say that I think the approach to developing MAID legislation and the implementation of it in Canada has been very intentional, and that we do have safeguards in place. I don't disagree with my colleagues about the need for better social and medical supports,

Medical Assistance in Dying committee  Thank you very much. Thank you, Dr. Janz. My expertise is not in disability, so I am honoured to share this space with my esteemed colleagues. I suspect that I was invited to participate in this panel—and I thank the committee for the invitation—because I have done quite a lot