“Our countdown has started. The opposition parties are teaming up with Sandra Demontigny, a Quebecer suffering from early Alzheimer’s, to urge the government to modify the law governing medical assistance in dying.
Five months ago, the four political parties represented in the National Assembly co-signed a renewed report on end-of-life care. The document, comprising 11 recommendations, called in particular for a modification of the law to offer people with incurable diseases the possibility of making an advance request for medical assistance in dying.
Five months later, and even if it has undertaken to do so, the government of François Legault has still not tabled a bill to this effect. He only has four weeks left before the end of parliamentary work, which will not resume immediately next fall, elections oblige.
On Thursday, the Liberal Party of Quebec, Quebec solidaire and the Parti Quebecois renewed their wish to see the birth of a bill as soon as possible. By their side: Sandra Demontigny, author of the book The Urgency to Live: My Life with Early Alzheimer’s, which recounts the struggle she has been leading since her diagnosis. She estimates that she only has “two to three years” of additional working life.
“Our countdown has started. He does not stop: each day that passes, we lose it, ”launched Mme Demontigny Thursday in parliament.
“Anticipated medical assistance in dying means being able to leave with peace of mind. If today I could make a request, it is clear that I would sleep better at night, ”she added.
A limited time
During his assessment of the parliamentary session, last fall, François Legault, had expressed his wish that the legislative text be modified by the end of the CAQ mandate. “Obviously, I’m going to need the cooperation of the opposition, but I want, and Quebeckers want it, that we expand medical assistance in dying while putting the beacons to avoid slippages,” he said then.
“If we look at the calendar, there are four weeks left, two of which are intensive”, dropped the solidarity deputy Vincent Marissal on Thursday, who had participated in the work of the Special Commission on the evolution of the Law concerning end-of-life care. , last year. According to him, the opportunities to pass a bill before the end of the legislature are extremely limited.
Parti Québécois MNA Véronique Hivon, who had tabled the first draft of the Act respecting end-of-life care, is “reaching out” to the government. “What we want is for it to be tabled [le projet de loi] in the next few days. We offer all our cooperation to sit during the day and at night. We will not skimp on rigor, but […] we think we can do it,” she said Thursday.
“It’s done,” continued Liberal MP David Birnbaum.
In a scrum on Thursday, the Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, reiterated his desire to table a legislative text by the adjournment of work, without specifying when.