Thank you, Chair.
Mr. Taylor, I'll start with you, if I can.
I asked the minister in the first round about the section where someone has to be informed of the means available to relieve their suffering, including the appropriate counselling services, mental health and disability support services, and community services. This is all under paragraph 241.2(3.1)(g) for track two. I think we can rightly determine that for those who are suffering with a mental disorder and who are going through that profound, internal psychological suffering, their death is not going to be reasonably foreseeable. They have to come under the safeguards specified under track two.
My question to you is this. The Criminal Code uses verbs like “has been informed” and “has been offered”. Is that the limit of what criminal law in Canada can do?
What is the federal government's expectation on the provincial side of things for how their medical systems will step up to ensure...?
I can tell you, from my own personal experience as a member of Parliament, in my community—I represent a riding on Vancouver Island—we have a lot of people who are going through extreme mental health issues. There's a lot of underlying trauma. It is feeding a lot of the opioid crisis.
I understand there are additional safeguards. Someone's not going to be able to walk off the street and access MAID. I understand that very clearly, but I'm trying to figure out where the language of the Criminal Code—the necessity of being informed and offered—meets the provincial side of things.
I'd like it if you could walk us through that.