Feds ask court for second extension on changes to assisted-dying law

The bill was still at the initial stage of the legislative process when the House of Commons adjourned due to the pandemic in mid-March.

“While this legislation remains a priority for the government of Canada, the realities of the pandemic have unfortunately rendered it impossible to advance Bill C-7 through the parliamentary process in order to meet the current deadline of July 11, 2020,” they said.

“A five-month extension of the ruling’s suspension period is needed to provide sufficient time for Parliament to properly consider and enact this proposed legislation, which is of importance to many Canadians and families across the country

Except for brief, single-day sittings to deal with emergency aid legislation, the Commons has been adjourned since March 13 as part of the bid to curb the spread of the deadly coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

Under a deal struck last week between the governing Liberals and the NDP, the Commons is not scheduled to resume normal operations until Sept. 21.

Without another extension, Lametti and Hajdu argued that the reasonably-foreseeable-death provision would cease to apply in Quebec after July 11, while it would continue to apply in the rest of the country.

“This means that criminal law would no longer be applied consistently across the country,” they said.

In agreeing to the first extension, Quebec Superior Court Justice Christine Baudouin said in the interim people who are not near death have the right to seek a court-ordered exemption from the reasonably foreseeable death provision.

Under the proposed bill, reasonably foreseeable death would no longer be an eligibility requirement for an assisted death. However, Canadians whose natural deaths are not imminent would still face more restrictive conditions than those who are considered near death.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2020.

Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Feds ask court for second extension on changes to assisted-dying law

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