MONTREAL — Quebecers will delve into the thorny and emotionally charged debate over euthanasia and assisted suicide this week as public hearings into dying with dignity get underway.

A committee of provincial politicians has heard from experts and it will now be the public's turn in discussions that promise to be polarizing and emotional, said Geoff Kelley, a Liberal overseeing the hearings.

"We'll be looking at the question of dignity for the end of life and that's very important," Kelley said in an interview.

"But obviously it leads you on to the minefield of . . . euthanasia and . . . assisted suicide that probably were last raised in the early '90s when Sue Rodriguez's case went forward and was debated before the courts."

In 1992, assisted suicide hit the national radar when Rodriguez, a B.C. woman, fought all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada for the right to kill herself.

Rodriguez, who suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease, lost 5-4 in a split decision, but killed herself anyway with the help of an unidentified physician in 1994.

Since then, the issue has surfaced from time to time. A Quebec man, Stephan Dufour, was found not guilty by a jury of helping his uncle commit suicide in 2008 in the first ever Canadian assisted suicide case to make it to trial.

The verdict has been appealed by the Crown.

Kelley said the time is right to ask the public about euthanasia (where someone other than the patient ends the patient's life) and assisted suicide (when someone aids a patient to end their own life.)

Kelley stresses the committee hasn't come to any conclusions and is eager to listen to the public on discussions on refusal of treatment and new medications.

Some 300 written and oral submissions from the public are expected as the hearings begin in Montreal on Tuesday, while another 3,300 citizens have filled out an online questionnaire.

In February, the commission heard from 32 legal and medical experts and organizations.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Canada and, barring a dramatic change in Ottawa, these hearings won't change that.

In Ottawa last April, Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde's attempt to introduce a private member's bill to allow euthanasia in certain circumstances was soundly defeated 228-59.

But in Quebec, organizations representing doctors have been outspoken about changes to laws governing euthanasia. That and Opposition interest at the legislature helped create these widespread consultations.

Gaetan Barrette, head of the province's association of medical specialists, told the hearings last winter that doctors in Quebec want euthanasia legalized in "exceptional circumstances" and want the Criminal Code amended to reflect that.

Barrette went as far as to say that euthanasia goes on currently in a grey area whereby painkillers given to terminally ill patients sometimes result in death.

Quebec's College of Physicians has also said euthanasia should be considered in the case of an "imminent or inevitable death," as long as the patient consents.

But not all doctors are in agreement. And anti-euthanasia groups worry the hearings are simply a ploy to get around Ottawa's balking at new laws by lumping euthanasia in as a medical issue.

Linda Couture, director of Living With Dignity, said moving toward legalizing euthanasia is a slippery slope which may lead to premature deaths.

"It is (currently) a crime, it is unacceptable and it is dangerous," Couture said.

"What we need is to inform people of what their real choices are and focus on developing a good, sound, end-of-life care with palliative care which is already there but not enough people have access to."

Couture said acceptance of assisted suicide remains rare. Luxembourg and the Netherlands are believed to be the only places in the world where both euthanasia and assisted suicide are legal.

Assisted suicide is legal in Belgium and three U.S. states, but under strict conditions.

Pro-euthanasia groups argue that people should have control over how they die.

"It's not right to let someone die alone," said Helene Bolduc, a former nurse who heads the Association quebecoise pour le droit de mourir dans la dignite, a right-to-die group.

"It's not right to say at the end of one's life, you're on your own."

Bolduc says palliative care is acceptable in many cases but doesn't necessarily work all the time.

"There's not a ton of people asking for (help in dying) but many do ask that doctors do something at the very end, so what counts for us is recognizing this right," Bolduc said.

"People find euthanasia to be criminal. I find leaving someone to suffer to be criminal."