Confusion over assisted-dying legislation

Having failed to enact new legislation regulating medical assistance in dying, Canada now has no laws at the federal level preventing doctors from arranging the death of a patient.

The Supreme Court ruled in February 2015 that the laws that denied someone suffering irremediable and intolerable pain the “right to die” were contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Government was given a year to introduce new legislation, a deadline that was extended to 6 June.

 The House of Commons passed a bill on 31 May and sent it to the Senate, which announced it would hold hearings and consider amendments, meaning the 6 June deadline was missed.

Each province and territory has its own set of regulations governing how and under what circumstances someone might request assistance in dying, and each province has its own rules about conscience rights and the responsibilities of institutions. For instance, some provinces’ rules make no reference to hospitals while Alberta has announced that no Catholic-owned institution will be required to take part in an assisted suicide. Some provinces insist that doctors objecting to assisting in delivering death “effectively refer” patients to a doctor who will. Other provinces make no such demand. Given the schedules of the House and Senate, the issue is unlikely to be settled for months.

As the House of Commons rushed to enact legislation, more than 1,000 protesters, some 250 in body bags, staged a “die-in” outside the parliament.

Cardinal Gérald Lacroix (left), Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada, issued an open letter warning of the dangers of legalising euthanasia, warning that what begins as a rare gesture “cedes way to habit”.

Jean Vanier, the Canadian founder of L’Arche communities for the disabled, told a national radio programme that contemplating legalising medically assisted suicide was fraught with danger. “People could go through periods of just fatigue, depression, loneliness. So we mustn’t just say ‘there’s a legal right’. They also have a legal right to be walked with, accompanied, and helped.”