Saturday, June 18, 2016

The continuing saga of Physician Assisted Suicide; an ABCA in E.F. Sets the stage for the challenge of the Liberal Governments legislation

I  have followed the Carter decision for many years now.   The consequences of the Supreme Court of Canada's  decision in the Carter case have been noteworthy.    Most particularly Canada now has legislation which must comply with the parameters established by the Supreme Court of Canada:

An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make related amendments to other Acts (medical assistance in dying)

The debate on Bill C-14 at openparliament.ca is also worthy of note.  Clear concerns were addressed to the Liberal government by many opposition MPs and one Liberal MP which appear to have been ignored by the Liberal government.   It is even more interesting to note that these concerns have manifested themselves in caselaw arising out of Alberta and addressed directly by the Court of Appeal of Alberta in the E.F. Decision:

Canada (Attorney General) v E.F., 2016 ABCA 155

I would have thought that given this decision's existence that the Liberal government would not create, what appears to be, an unnecessary challenge to the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Carter.   The Carter decision has determined the constitutionality of an individual's right to physician assisted suicide and it is now incumbent on the Liberal government to produce legislation that clearly complies with the constitutional determination made by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The politics are to be continued.