Medical assistance in dying is now legal in Canada, despite there being no legislation or regulations in place. The federal government is still working on passing legislation to permit medical assistance in dying despite having previously received a four-month extension by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The deadline set by the Supreme Court, following its unanimous ruling in the Carter case, was June 6. Each province is now left to respond in its own manner, which was criticized as a “patchwork approach” by the federal Minister of Health, Jane Philpott, as she told reporters on June 6.
Ontario issued a statement indicating the government will provide drugs for this service, free of charge, and will establish a referral service to facilitate the process.
In Ontario, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Eric Hoskins and Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur issued a statement indicating the government will provide drugs for this service, free of charge, and will establish a referral service to facilitate the process.
They also recommend that any clarification needed on this law, in absence of legislation and accompanying regulations, should be brought by patients and health care providers to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice through an application.
There is ongoing speculation about whether the drafted legislation will survive Senate scrutiny and moreover, whether it will ultimately survive future Charter challenges in the courts due to its perceived inconsistencies with the Carter ruling. People who have criticized the legislation, including NDP leader Thomas Mulcair and the family of Kay Carter, who was a claimant in the Carter case, say that it narrows the eligibility criteria to the point where the original claimants in the Carter case would arguably not have qualified. What comes of this issue is very important to the federal government’s impending consideration of mature minors and people with mental health issues in the scope of this legislation.