Hon. Pamela Wallin: Minister, in Quebec, as you know, the National Assembly’s inter-party committee report on end-of-life care recommended allowing advance requests for medical assistance in dying, or MAID.

I have two questions. First, do you agree with that recommendation? Second, I will ask you this again: Do you commit to reconvening the joint committee this month so that we can study Quebec’s report in a timely way?

Hon. Pamela Wallin: I wanted to ask you, Senator Gold, if you wanted to speak briefly to the fact that the lobbying around this issue has been going on for the entire 20th century and into the 21st, and that Alberta and Manitoba were very much a part of that effort to end this constitutionalized tax, and that what has really provoked all of this and prompted this more current discussion is a decision rendered by the Federal Court in September 2021. That is what has brought this issue to the fore again in an urgent way.

Hon. Pamela Wallin: Minister Duclos, as legally required, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying was formed to address serious issues left unresolved in what was known as Bill C-7. The committee has held only three meetings, two of which were organizational. Then, Parliament prorogued and an election followed.

Minister, could you and your cabinet colleagues, including the Prime Minister, commit to reconvening the committee this month as the clock is ticking on the mandatory reporting date for the committee set for May?