The Canadian government is set to launch a “national conversation” next month on the topic of advance euthanasia requests, a mechanism that would allow a person to consent in advance to be euthanised in the future, under certain conditions that would see them unable to offer consent.
The news comes following Quebec province’s announcement that it would begin accepting advance requests for its ‘Medical Assistance in Dying’ (MAiD) programme, despite the fact that advance requests are considered an offence according to Canada’s Criminal Code.
Quebec updated its euthanasia legislation last year, but delayed the implementation of advance requests to allow time for changes to be made to the Criminal Code.
Advance requests are to be accepted from today, despite there being no change to the Criminal Code.
The pursuit of criminal charges in relation to euthanasia is under the jurisdiction of provincial law, and Quebec has informed its prosecutor’s office not to advance charges against the doctors processing such requests.
In response to developments in Quebec, the federal government has said that it is launching a “national conversation” on the topic of advance requests, and that it will not be initiating a challenge of Quebec’s Bill 11 – the bill responsible for enabling advance requests in that province.
The consultations are to be concluded by early 2025, with a report published by spring.
“MAID is a matter of shared jurisdiction with provinces and territories. As a health service, MAID is administered by provincial and territorial health systems as part of end-of-life or complex care. However, since MAID involves ending a person’s life, it includes important legal considerations under the Criminal Code that is the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada,” the government statement reads.
“The Government of Canada acknowledges the work the Government of Quebec has conducted on the implementation of advance requests and their interest in having the Criminal Code amended so that advance requests can be permitted for residents of Quebec. As the Criminal Code applies uniformly across Canada and does not permit the provision of MAID based on an advance request, providing MAID pursuant to an advance request remains an offence under the Criminal Code.”
The government of Quebec’s website states that an “advance request for medical aid in dying is made by a person who has been diagnosed with a serious and incurable illness leading to incapacity (for example, Alzheimer’s disease)”.
“The request must be made while the person is still capable of consenting to care, with a view to receiving medical aid in dying when they become incapable of doing so, if all the criteria set out in the Act are met,” it says.