Dr. Kristin Good:

I will not go into a lot of detail because we do not have enough time. As Mr. Seymour said and as I said in my initial presentation, the law that we have has been described as a race to be the toughest and safest. That is how we are seen internationally. It is something I feel proud to be part of.

One of the safeguards is the non-initiation by the practitioner. It has to be initiated by the person. That is a really important safeguard. Suspected coercion is investigated at every point through the assessment process, and is documented. I review that. There is no ability to use advance care directives. There is no ability to use enduring power of attorney or a welfare guardian to access this. We have had experience with that already. There are regular check-ins to confirm the person's decision. At every point, people can rescind their decision, and that includes on the day of medication. Some people have been found to be ineligible or to rescind on that day. Right up to that point, that safeguard is in place, which is important.

It is an offence for practitioners not to comply with requirements. The previous speaker asked about that. It is something that we look at. We take action against breaches very seriously. There is oversight before eligibility and I review every single one after that in case something has come up. The only breaches that have occurred to date are around process, and they have been minor. Practitioners are educated and advised that they have to work within the law. The intolerance is not that they do not do it; they just would rather that they had better freedom. I am not saying they do not do it. They would just rather have the creative aspect that they normally have in other aspects of medicine.

Another safeguard is the destruction of the prescription when it is no longer required. The ability to conscientiously object is also a very important safeguard. There are restrictions on making the details public. There are also the statutory committees and me, who act as accountability safeguards.