Canada’s Law for Medical Assistance in Dying

June 17, 2016 – MAiD is accessible under Canadian legislation

“Nidus does not have a position/lobby on this issue — we provide education for the public and professionals to be informed.”

An Act to Amend the Criminal Code and to make related amendments to other Acts (medical assistance in dying) – known as Bill C-14 has received Royal Ascent and this law now governs medical assistance in dying in Canada. Sections 4 and 5 (about providing and collecting relevant information) of the new law are to be proclaimed later.

Click to read a legislative summary of Bill C-14 (2016)

Click to see progress of Bill C-14 (2016)

Bill C-14 was amended just before it became law. You can view Nidus’ chart showing the Senate amendments and the Government’s response.

• On May 31, 2016, the House of Commons passed Bill C-14, as amended at third reading. The Bill was titled Bill C-14-3.
• On Wednesday, June 15, 2016, the Senate passed amendments to Bill C-14 and sent them to the House of Commons/Government for consideration.
• On Thursday, June 16, 2016, the House of Commons/Government voted to accept some of the amendments and sent this message to the Senate.
• On Friday, June 17, 2016 the Senate passed Bill C-14 at third reading. You can listen to the Senate discussion at this audio link.

This federal law sets out the eligibility and other requirements for medical assistance in dying. The federal government will make some regulations to add detail to certain aspects of the law. The BC government is also expected to amend existing provincial legislation and/or provide new legislation with regard to this matter.

BC’s Health Care Consent and Care Facility Admission Act sets out an adult’s rights to give, refuse and withdraw (stop) consent. It allows adults capable of informed consent to refuse health care that is offered even if it results in death [sec 4(a)].

The law also outlines the elements of informed consent and how incapability is determined [sec.7 & 8].

• See Nidus fact sheets related to health care consent. From the Nidus website click > Information (top menu bar) > Health Care Consent

In our previous post, Nidus noted a few aspects of BC’s existing health care consent legislation that might need amendment or that are consistent with aspects of Bill C-14.

• According to the federal legislation for MAiD, someone must be at least 18 years or older. BC’s health care consent legislation currently refers to ‘adults.’ (The age of adulthood in BC is 19 years.) Federal legislation also requires a person to give consent specifically to medical assistance in dying. This was not part of any provincial legislation.
• Federal legislation for MAiD requires a physician or nurse practitioner to “take all measures necessary to assist a person who has difficulty communicating to understand the information and communicate their decision.” BC’s legislation for health care consent includes a duty to communicate in an appropriate manner [sec 8].

For more background on the law and the groups involved, see the Ask Joanne post for June 6, 2016 (without MAiD legislation, the Supreme Court of Canada declaration based on the Carter v. Canada decision and guidelines of regulatory bodies filled the gap).

Thank you to Courthouse Libraries BC, in particular Alex McNeur, for helping us locate information about the Senate amendments and understand the procedures regarding federal Bills to become legislation in this somewhat unique situation. Thanks also to Nahal Iranpour, a third year law student at UBC who is working at Nidus this summer thanks to a grant from the federal government Canada Summer Jobs program.

Information

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WEBSITE INFORMATION ON MAID

Canada Health website for Medical Assistance in Dying

PLANNING FOR END-OF-LIFE, INCAPACITY AND OTHER SUPPORT NEEDS

Types of Planning

Presentations

Personal Stories

Videos

Fact sheet on MAID