A choice for Canadians

Given the choice, most of us would prefer to spend as much time as possible on this Earth. For Audrey Parker, though, life was shorter than it should have been.

However, the changes the Parker advocated to the federal legislation governing the right to die are welcome indeed, and a fine legacy for the Halifax woman who chose to die with medical assistance in November 2018.

Parker’s case got national attention when she pointed out that her situation meant that she would have to die weeks, perhaps months, before she might otherwise have, because her condition might have robbed her of her ability to consent. Her terminal cancer had begun to spread to her brain.

That was a problem because the law required anyone seeking medical help to die to give consent in the moments immediately prior to the procedure.

Parker wanted control over the manner and timing of her death, but was legally prohibited from specifying ahead of time when that could happen if she lost consciousness or the mental capacity to give consent at the last moment.

It was a cruel blow to someone who knew she was dying soon.

Her emotional plea for change worked, as federal Justice Minister David Lametti has tabled amendments to the law, called Bill C-7, that will be debated when the House resumes sitting.

The Green, NDP and Bloc Québécois parties have signaled support for the bill. That would mean the Liberal minority government would likely not need to impose party discipline and allow a free vote.

The original legislation from 2015 mandated a parliamentary review of the law in five years. But a Quebec court decision late last year that struck down a provision of the law as unconstitutional gave the government until March 11 to change it.

The court has granted Lametti an extension of that deadline, until July 11, to get the bill passed.

Meanwhile, several other requests for change that didn’t make it into Bill C-7 will be referred to the parliamentary review set to begin in June.

Ottawa’s approach to this law has been cautious and slow, being careful to hear all sides before making changes. An appeal for public input in January garnered more than 300,000 responses from Canadians. In January, the government said that 6,700 people have now ended their life with medical assistance under the law.

So it’s clear that it’s something Canadians wanted. As we've said before, Canada deserves a law that provides access to medically assisted death to as many people as possible, while preserving enough safeguards to prevent abuse. Any further expansions of the law should be considered every bit as carefully.