Public talks on assisted death to begin soon, Ottawa says
OTTAWA— The Harper government has set up an external panel to conduct public consultations and propose legislative options for dealing with the politically explosive issue of doctor-assisted dying.
But the three-member panel won’t report back to the government until late fall — after the Oct. 19 federal election.
The panel is to consult with medical authorities and other interested parties and conduct an online public consultation with Canadians generally.
In its final report, the panel is to provide the government with options for responding to last February’s ruling by the Supreme Court, which struck down the prohibition on physician-assisted death.
The top court gave the government 12 months to craft a new law that recognizes the right of clearly consenting adults who are enduring intolerable physical or mental suffering to seek medical help to end their lives.
The panel is chaired by psychiatry professor Max Chochinov, the Canada research chair in palliative care at the University of Manitoba. His co-panellists are University of Ottawa law professor Benoit Pelletier, a constitutional expert and former Quebec cabinet minister; and Catherine Frazee, former co-director of Ryerson University’s institute for disability research and education.
The government has been dragging its feet on the issue since the court’s ruling in February. Justice Minister Peter MacKay last month signalled that the Conservative government, if re-elected this fall, would ask the court to extend the 12month deadline for drafting a new law. He cited time constraints caused by the election.
However, some legal experts have doubted the court would grant an extension since the government has done little to advance the file in the months leading up to the election. The Conservatives voted against a Liberal motion in late February that called for the creation of a multiparty special committee to consult and report back to Parliament by mid-summer with a proposed framework for a new law. At that time, the government argued that a broader public consultation process was required and promised to launch one “very soon.”
MacKay has already said the government will not propose new legislation until after the Oct. 19 election.
The issue is particularly touchy for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, whose Conservative caucus and party support base include a strong pro-life contingent that is adamantly opposed to medically assisted dying.
A number of Tory backbenchers have urged the government to invoke the constitutional notwithstanding clause to override the Supreme Court and reinstate the ban on assisted suicide. But opinion polls suggest an overwhelming majority of Canadians want the legal right to choose to die with dignity, with the help of a doctor.