Quebec has announced that Quebecers who want to arrange Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) before their condition leaves them unable to grant consent can do so from next month. The province made this announcement as it unveiled a plan to grant such requests without waiting for the federal government to update the criminal code of the country.
Last month, the government of Quebec said it would stop waiting for the federal government to implement the demanded amendments and move forward with plans to grant early MAiD requests. The province announced that such requests could be granted from October 30.
In a press release, Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said: “The issue of advance requests for medical assistance in dying is widely agreed upon in Quebec.”
Seniors Minister Sonia Bélanger labelled the province a leader in upholding “patients’ right to die with dignity.”
The government revealed it has asked the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions to respect the conditions rolled out in the province’s act giving respect to end-of-life care in the area of pressing criminal charges.
While responding, the Director’s office issued its own release instantly after the government and said it would direct criminal and penal prosecutors that “it would not be in the public interest” to approve criminal prosecutions for deaths happening in the context of MAiD as long as the care is offered in compliance with the act.
Director Patrick Michel stated that prosecutors will only step in when a police investigation has happened or a complaint has been received that the wishes of someone were not respected in line with the law, for instance, if someone was alleged to have been coerced.
When asked if Quebec is acting illegally without the federal government’s modification of the Criminal Code, Michel said prosecutors would keep enforcing the law until the federal government intervenes and takes action.
In a recent interview with The Canadian Press, Michel said: “We’re a law enforcement agency, so we have to take it for granted that the provincial law is valid, and we’ll take that into account in our decisions.
“The federal government would have to challenge the legality of the law, then convince a judge to suspend the application of the law while the court ruled on the validity of the provincial law. Otherwise, the law is presumed valid until it is invalidated, or a court suspends its application.”
Previously, Quebec said it would wait to approve early requests until the federal government modified the Criminal Code so as to better safeguard health-care workers from encountering charges related to ending a patient’s life, but it announced it wouldn’t wait any longer last month.
In June 2023, Quebec adopted a law permitting people with serious and incurable illnesses like Alzheimer’s disease to request MAiD while they have the capacity to give consent, with the procedure being carried out after their condition has gotten worse.
On X, Quebec’s College of Physicians posted its support for the Quebec government’s move and faulted Ottawa.
The post read: “We deplore the fact that Ottawa has not yet amended the Criminal Code to authorize this well-established procedure, which has consensus in Quebec.
Also, the Order of Quebec Nurses expressed its endorsement and focused on federal lawmakers.
In an email to Canadian Press, Order President Luc Mathieu wrote “There are still a number of issues to clarify before it comes into force. We therefore look to the federal government to quickly join the broad Quebec consensus.”
The Criminal Code states that “immediately before” health-care workers administer a medically assisted death, they must “give the person an opportunity to withdraw their request and ensure that the person gives express consent to receive medical assistance in dying.”
There are exceptions though but for the consent requirement to be waived, the seeker of MAiD must fulfil many criteria, including that they “entered into an arrangement in writing” specifying the day they wanted to die.
Under Quebec law, the advance request of a patient is made with the help of a health professional and must describe in detail the symptoms that will induce medical aid in dying after the patient has lost the ability to consent.
Parliament’s special joint committee on MAiD issued a report which recommended that the federal government amend the Criminal Code to allow for advance requests following a diagnosis of a serious and incurable medical condition, or “disorder leading to incapacity” in February 2023.
