Quebec health minister introduces bill to expand access to medical assistance in dying
Health Minister Christian Dubé tabled a bill Wednesday that would allow people with Alzheimer's, for example, to make an early request for medical assistance in dying (MAID).
The long-awaited Bill 38 takes up most of the recommendations made last December by the special all-party commission on the evolution of the Act Respecting End-of-Life Care.
But it contains a provision that was not included in the commission's work: the extension of MAID to people with severe neuromotor impairment, such as quadriplegia.
"With neuromotor disorders, there is also the question of suffering," said Dubé in a press briefing, saying that he wanted to harmonize the Quebec legislation with that of the federal government.
Paraplegia, cerebral palsy, and amputation after an accident are also serious neuromotor disabilities.
'PULLING A RABBIT OUT OF HIS HAT'
But this last-minute addition has "complicated enormously" the adoption of the bill, Parti Quebécois (PQ) MNA Véronique Hivon warned Wednesday.
She believes that the minister is opening up "a whole other area" that has never been debated in Quebec, and that it will be difficult to debate it properly with only nine days left in the legislature.
"This is not a trivial choice for the minister, and I must tell you that I wonder, really, why he came up with this."
Minister Dubé should have stuck to the recommendations of the transparent commission, according to Vincent Marissal, MNA for Québec solidaire.
"He's pulling a rabbit out of his hat by adding neuromotor disability as a reason to apply for [MAID], when this condition was barely touched upon during the consultations," he said.
If adopted, Bill 38 will allow a person suffering from a serious and incurable disease leading to incapacity (dementia, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's in certain cases) to choose his or her end of life.
They will be able to decide, with the help of a physician or specialized nurse practitioner, at what stage of the disease they wish to end their life, even if they are no longer capable of giving consent.
The request would be recorded on a form completed and signed in the presence of the health-care professional, and countersigned by two witnesses or notarized. It would then be recorded in a registry.
The person will be able to designate one or two trusted third parties whose role is to inform a physician or specialized nurse practitioner when they believe the person is experiencing the suffering described in the request.
A person who is alone and does not have a trusted third party will be accompanied by health-care staff, though a person may modify or withdraw his or her advance application for MAID.
Approximately 140,000 Quebecers currently suffer from Alzheimer's disease.
On the other hand, Minister Dubé sided with the Transpartisan Commission and refrained from extending the MAID to people with a mental disorder only.
"Will we go back to this later, when there may be another update? But right now, it really wasn't the right thing to do," he said.
Another change proposed in the bill is that a hospice will no longer be able to exclude MAID from the care it provides, with some exceptions. Currently, six of the 37 hospices in Quebec do not offer medical assistance in dying.
Finally, the bill removes the "end of life" criterion from the eligibility requirements for the procedure, since it is already no longer applicable.
END-OF-SESSION GRIDLOCK
In order to be able to study Bill 38, Dubé said he was ready to pass Bill 19 (health information) to the hatch.
In a press conference, he defended himself from being poorly organized, as he is currently piloting four health bills. However, he acknowledged that the agenda was "very tight."
"We have a group of lawmakers who, until a few weeks ago, were still working on COVID and then on a lot of things ... The minute we got (Bill 38) from our people, we tabled it," he said.
Under the rules of the National Assembly, a bill introduced after May 15 "cannot be passed during the period of proceedings in which it was introduced."
This rule can be circumvented, however, if the government obtains the agreement of all elected officials.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 25, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Still so much love between us,' Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
What to know about avian influenza in dairy cows and the risk to humans
Why is H5N1, or bird flu, a concern, how does it spread, and is there a vaccine? Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about avian influenza.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
opinion The special relationship between King Charles and the Princess of Wales
Royal commentator Afua Hagan writes that when King Charles recently admitted Catherine to the Order of the Companions of Honour, it not only made history, but it reinforced the strong bond between the King and his beloved daughter-in-law.
Pro-plastic lobbyist presence at UN talks is 'troubling,' say advocates
Environmentalist groups are sounding the alarm about a steep increase in the number of pro-plastic lobbyists at the UN pollution talks taking place this week.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
$70M Lotto Max winners kept prize a secret from family for 2 months
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Trump's lawyers grill ex-tabloid publisher as 1st week of hush money trial testimony nears a close
After prosecutors' lead witness painted a tawdry portrait of “catch-and-kill” tabloid schemes, defence lawyers in Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday sought to dig into an account of the former publisher of the National Enquirer and his efforts to protect Trump from negative stories during the 2016 election.