In a letter dated Nov. 3, 2016 to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould and Health Minister Jane Philpott, the CBA is offering its assistance on further legislative amendments to permit medical assistance in dying.
Based on resolutions passed at our legal conference in August, the CBA says the law should be amended to permit advance requests and to provide access to medical assistance in dying for mature minors and persons with mental illness. The CBA also called for a regime for advance requests. While implementing this will fall to the provinces and territories, the CBA encourages the federal government to facilitate collaboration to harmonize these measures to the extent possible. The government promised to begin studies of these issues within six months of Bill C-14 receiving Royal Assent in June 2016.
Read the letter and resolutions.