Quebec MD will fight assisted-dying law

Government has deadline of one year to create legislation

MONTREAL— The doctor at the heart of the fight against Quebec’s assisteddying law promised Tuesday he will not back down despite the province’s top court ruling that the legislation is constitutional and can remain in effect.

The Quebec Court of Appeal overturned a lower court decision aimed at suspending implementation of the law.

Criminal Code provisions banning assisted suicide are invalid because they were struck down by the Supreme Court, the appeals court ruled Tuesday. That means Quebec’s law doesn’t conflict with the federal statutes, which take precedence in the country’s legal system.

A Quebec Superior Court justice ruled last month the law contravened Sec. 14 of the Criminal Code, which states people cannot consent to having death inflicted on them. Quebec appealed that decision. The Supreme Court ruled the federal law banning assisted suicide unconstitutional last February, but suspended its decision for one year to give the government time to create a new law. The Liberal government is seeking a six-month extension on the deadline.

“There is no doubt” the articles of the Criminal Code regarding assisted suicide “are constitutionally invalid,” the appeals court said in its ruling.

That makes exemptions to those Criminal Code provisions possible under certain circumstances and means the Quebec law is constitu- tional, the court added.

The Superior Court justice ruled in favour of Dr. Paul Saba and a handicapped woman, who were hoping to postpone implementation of the law until at least February.

Saba said he was disappointed by Tuesday’s ruling but promised to take Quebec to court once again.

The appeals court said Saba and his Coalition of Physicians for Social Justice are free to contest Quebec’s law on the other arguments in their initial lawsuit.

Saba intends to challenge it on the basis he believes doctor-assisted suicide is not a medical service and, therefore, does not fall under provincial jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court will hold an oral hearing on Jan. 11 as it considers whether to allow the federal government’s request for an extension on drafting new legislation.