The public hearings on euthanasia, which began Tuesday in Montreal, will gather testimonials in 11 communities across the province. (CBC)Quebec's public hearings into euthanasia began on Tuesday in Montreal, with testimony from several groups holding differing views on the controversial issue.

The government committee, Dying with Dignity, will be touring the province to gauge public reaction to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide.

The first group to speak was l'Association féminine d'éducation et d'action sociale (AFEAS), a women's rights group with 300 members in Montreal, the Laurentians and the Outaouais.

Regional president Line Chartrand called on the Quebec government to improve access to palliative care.

Her organization favours euthanasia, and Chartrand said Tuesday no one should be forced to live against their will. The group also called on Ottawa to change the Criminal Code, which states that euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Canada.

Chartrand said that certain criteria need to be met before ending a life.

Dr. André Bourque, president of Living With Dignity and the head of general medicine at the CHUM hospital, had the opposing view: that opening the door to assisted suicide is dangerous and unnecessary.

"The perverse consequences are on the feeble, the disabled, the people who are in difficulty to consent and who require lots of care," Bourque said.

Euthanasia is not simply pulling the plug and taking a person off life support — it's the act of intentionally taking someone's life, he said.

The doctor said many other medical professionals and patients do not understand the consequences of euthanasia.

The head of the commission, Liberal MNA Geoff Kelley, said the commission is not able to force Ottawa to change the Criminal Code, but Quebec can do its part, such as exercise discretion over euthanasia cases in the justice system.

Jeannine Rouleau-Auger came to tell committee members about her brother, who shot himself with a rifle in June after suffering for 15 years from multiple sclerosis.

The Rouleau family came to speak to committee members about Laurent Rouleau, who suffered from multiple sclerosis.

The 59-year-old lived with the degenerative disease for 15 years, before shooting himself with a rifle in June.

"He decided that he would kill himself before he couldn't do it by himself, before he had to ask someone else to do it, because it is criminal," said Rouleau's sister, Jeannine Rouleau-Auger.

Rouleau-Auger said she came to the Dying with Dignity hearings to tell her family's story.

"We came because we want people to have a choice," said Rouleau-Auger. "We think his pain could have been alleviated if he had the option [and] he'd still be with us."

The committee will visit 11 communities across the province. Members hope to hear from more than 300 people.

The hearings continue in Montreal on Wednesday with testimony from individuals and groups that include the Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity and Cancer Doctors and Nurses Against Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.