The government's representative in the Senate concedes it's possible that a bill to expand access to medically assisted dying may be struck down as unconstitutional by the courts.
The controversial Bill C-7 would expand the number of people who can access medical assistance in dying — an amendment opposed by many Conservative MPs in the House of Commons last week.
A bill to expand access to medical assistance in dying was approved on Thursday, December 10, 2020, by the House of Commons after the Conservatives ended a days-long filibuster.
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.