Canadians enduring unbearable suffering from irreversible medical conditions should be able to access medical help to die, a special parliamentary committee recommended Thursday.
The report, tabled in the House of Commons by a joint all-party committee of MPs and senators, concluded the right to seek a doctor-assisted death should apply to adults suffering both terminal and non-terminal physical and psychological conditions.
Such a right should not exclude the mentally ill, nor those with competence-impairing conditions such as dementia, and should eventually be expanded to include so-called “mature minors” — those under 19 deemed by medical professionals to be competent enough to decide on their own end-of-life care — the report concluded.
Those with incurable conditions likely to cause loss of competence should be allowed to make advance requests for medical assistance in dying, the committee recommended.
Advocates of doctor-assisted death lauded the relatively permissive approach urged by most of the committee’s 16 members.
Victoria NDP Justice critic Murray Rankin, vice-chairman of the committee, said: “The recommendations and safeguards protect the vulnerable, call for equitable access to palliative care, and respect the rights of health-care practitioners who conscientiously object to helping patients die. We believe we struck the right balance.”
Dr. Douglas McGregor, medical director of Victoria Hospice, called the report “thoughtful and far-reaching.” In the best jurisdictions, palliative care is only accessible to 40 per cent of the population and in some areas it is less than half that, said McGregor.
He wants patients to have access to palliative care as a first choice. “I’m actually encouraged that this report does highlight the need for equitable palliative care,” he said.
There are 17 palliative care beds in the Richmond Pavilion at Royal Jubilee Hospital and 10 at Saanich Peninsula Hospital. Those are not nearly enough, McGregor said.
Three Conservative MPs on the committee said the report failed to protect vulnerable people. They filed a dissenting report, although Conservative senators backed the majority position.
The Conservatives on the committee said the recommendations fell “far short” of what is necessary to protect vulnerable people from being pressured or coerced into seeking medical help to die or to protect mentally ill people who might not be able to make such a decision.
The Conservative MPs rejected the recommendation to extend the right to die with a doctor’s assistance to anyone under 18, advanced directives and the notion that the rights of health-care practitioners with objections will be protected.
“Their concerns are valid, their conclusions are invalid,” Rankin said. But the Council for Canadians with Disabilities and the Canadian Association for Community Living said the recommendations will jeopardize the lives of vulnerable Canadians.
The report recommended the federal government work with provinces to ensure medical assistance in dying is available in all publicly funded health-care facilities.
B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake said it will take intensive work over the coming months to lay the groundwork for the new legislation. He expressed caution about some recommendations, namely mature minors’ and advanced directives, but said overall “the recommendations are consistent with work that’s been done by the provincial-territorial task force on this, as well as very much in line with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. and their practice guidelines.”
B.C. NDP health critic Judy Darcy criticized the province for waiting so long to put necessary rules and regulations in place “to deal with this difficult and sensitive subject.”
The 21 recommendations from the committee will guide the federal government in crafting a new law after the Supreme Court ruled last year that Canada’s ban on assisted suicide violates a person’s right to life, liberty and security.
— with files from JOAN BRYDEN, The Canadian Press
