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Mr. Bolduc said that someone like Sue Rodriguez, the British Columbia woman who died in 1994 from ALS after losing a long legal battle for assisted suicide, would have been attracted to a province where euthanasia is legal.

Stéphanie Vallée, the Liberal MNA for Gatineau, said many people from Ontario have country homes in her riding across the border from Ottawa. She said their secondary residences in Quebec could easily become primary residences if that was what it took to be eligible for what the bill calls medical aid in dying.

“I know there are a lot of people who are watching our work, who look at what is happening here and who have demonstrated an interest,” she told the committee. “There are cottagers in my riding who watch this and who have shown an interest. It is not science fiction. It is a reality in the Outaouais [region] that is very present.”

Veronique Hivon, junior health minister in the Parti Québécois government and the driving force behind Bill 52, said she has received a lot of correspondence from people in other provinces encouraging her to forge ahead.

“I just want to say that this interest shown elsewhere should make us realize just how privileged we are to be at the stage where we are in Quebec, to be debating this question,” she told the committee. The issue of end-of-life care “concerns everyone and there are a lot of people who are very happy to see how far along we are in the debate,” she added.

This bill is introducing something new, something very important in the legislation of Quebec

She had initially hoped to have the bill adopted before the end of the year, but the legislature is set to adjourn Friday, and the detailed study of the bill in committee is not expected to be concluded in time.