Justice committee  I would go a little broader than that. They never recognized a right period, but they did leave it open for Parliament to determine if such a right would be...If Parliament chose to engage and determine such a right, that's in Parliament's power to do so, and not just with regard to advance directives but with regard to the whole notion of euthanasia and assisted suicide.

Justice committee  The way the system works now, under the existing ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada—which is what I am urging continue—is that there is evidence brought forward, which would consist of information from physicians and from the individuals, stating what their wishes and intentions are, allowing the physician to determine the nature of their medical condition and the extent of it, the fact that they have informed what the nature of the diagnosis, prognosis, and other elements of the condition are, and the fact that all aspects of treatment have been discussed and reviewed with the patient, and the opportunity has been provided to allow for those things....

Justice committee  It's blanket for that category of people, sir. That's what I'm trying to say.

Justice committee  I would be hesitant to overgeneralize in terms of the community as a whole. I have been involved in these issues for 25 years on behalf of the disability community, which is a very diverse community including members who are on all sides of this debate. I spent seven years as the chair of human rights with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, which is Canada's largest disability rights advocacy organization.

Justice committee  I don't think that's accurate. First of all, it says that people who assist in a suicide, even if they're not a medical practitioner, are nevertheless subject to immunity. No, it's not limited to doctors and to nurses, it expands even to broader members including potentially family members, friends, strangers, or community members.

Justice committee  Yes.

Justice committee  My question becomes: how do you enforce that? How is it in any way possible to enforce that? You've got third parties, friends, family, whoever, who are effectively giving the person the drug behind closed doors in their homes or wherever they are without medical oversight, without judicial oversight, without any oversight, yet they are nevertheless immune from prosecution regardless of the circumstances.

Justice committee  I think it's fundamentally important to have an independent level of oversight. I don't think that the doctors or nurses, the ones carrying out the acts of euthanasia and assisted suicide or otherwise engaged in that system, are able to provide the level of effective, independent, neutral oversight that the importance of these decisions requires.

Justice committee  The first thing I would note is that the Supreme Court of Canada itself has implemented this regime as a desirable regime in terms of assuring effective oversight. That's number one. To respond to your points, in terms of access, I would suggest that if there is an expedited application process to the Superior Court of the province, that would then allow an expedited mechanism to proceed.

Justice committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. My name is Hugh Scher and I'm the lawyer for the EPC. I'm a constitutional lawyer with over 20 years experience. I was counsel before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Carter v. Canada decision, and I've been engaged in almost all end-of-life cases, including Rodriguez v.