Dear Section Members,
As the CBA Health Law Section, we contribute to national policy and advocate for aspects of the law relating to health care, institutions and professions. We have a continued and active participation in significant legislation and law reform activities.
The Section wishes to formally invite you to get involved. We always welcome new committee members and volunteers. You can find out who is on the 2017-2018 executive committee and reach out to any of us! Please visit our website for recent resources, submissions, news and articles!
Here are just a few examples of the work we have recently done:
- We held our 2017 CBA Health Law Summit in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The conference topics included challenges of regulation and approval of new medical therapies and devices. We are currently planning the 2019 Health Law Summit. Stay tuned!
- We have been actively involved on the End-of-Life Working Group. Recently, the Working Group made a submission to the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying. The federal government’s second Interim Report on MAID was recently published. We anticipate draft regulations to be available for comment later this year.
- We participated in the preparation of the CBA’s submission regarding "Intent to develop regulations under Assisted Human Reproduction Act" to Health Canada on November 25, 2016. We anticipate draft regulations to be available for comment in the New Year.
- We presented a webinar with the Elder Law Section last fall. To access the recording, visit Moving Forward on Medical Assistance in Dying Across Canada.
- We participated in the CBA’s submission regarding "Legalization, Regulation and Restriction of Access to Marijuana Response to Discussion Paper". Proposed amendments to a federal bill on cannabis regulation (C-45) are currently under debate in the House of Commons. A companion bill (C-46) to amend the impaired driving regime is being reviewed by a parliamentary committee.
- We have continued representation on the Children’s Law Committee. The Committee is preparing a submission on the template for Canada’s report under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
- We established a law school essay contest related to general topics in Canadian health law. The objectives of the contest are to promote and reward interest in health law topics in Canadian law schools and to promote law student participation in the Section. The deadline is February 28, 2018.
We are looking for members to submit relevant and current articles on health law topics for publication on our website. This is a great opportunity for lawyers to get involved.
Danie Roy
Chair, CBA Health Law Section