Many people will suffer needlessly if Conservatives continue filibustering a bill on medically assisted dying beyond a court-imposed deadline of Dec. 18, Justice Minister David Lametti said Tuesday.
Disability Inclusion Minister Carla Qualtrough says health practitioners should not be allowed to discuss the issue of assisted dying until a patient asks about it — and she's open to amending the law to make that clear.
Newly minted Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole's ability to manage social conservatives in his caucus and party will be put to an early test this fall when the Liberal government reintroduces legislation on medical assistance in dying.
The number of Quebecers seeking medical assistance in dying has been growing steadily since 2015, according to a report on the state of end-of-life care tabled on Wednesday, April 3, 2019, in the provincial legislature.
Now that there is a new law —which allows assisted dying only for incurably ill adults who are already close to a natural death— the govt. says those findings are no longer true.
The province has protocols in place to offer guidance for families and physicians to deal with assisted dying until the federal government passes legislation to replace the law struck down last year.
Justice Minister Jody Wilson−Raybould says that the government is unlikely to accept a Senate amendment that would extend the right to assisted dying to all Canadians who are suffer intolerably.
On June 7, assisted dying will become legal, but the laws providing regulation have not yet been passed. This may lead to doctors being put in situations for which they are not prepared or protected.
