The government must legislate to allow people with incurable diseases to make an advance request for medical assistance in dying (MAID). This is the main recommendation of the Transpartisan Commission on the evolution of the Law on end-of-life care.
Launched last March, it aimed to consult Quebeckers on the future of this law, adopted in 2014. It tabled its final report on Wednesday.
In eleven separate recommendations, the members of the commission call on Quebec to review the legislative framework. However, they advise against extending MAID to mental disorders.
In all, around 100 speakers were heard during the work of the Special Commission. The commission received dozens of briefs on the subject. Its final report was tabled on Wednesday.
The report was tabled a few months after the federal government adopted its own reform of medical assistance in dying (MAID). In March, a few days before the commission’s launch, Ottawa passed a bill to repeal the “reasonably foreseeable death” criterion, which had been beaten by the Superior Court of Quebec in the Gladu-Truchon case.
Since this landmark decision of the Quebec court, it is no longer necessary to be at the end of life to apply for MAID. According to the new federal legislative framework, a person suffering from physical disorders that have become intolerable can inquire about this right. As for people affected by mental health problems, they will have to wait for the government to take a position.
Further details will follow.
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