Alberta’s NDP government introduced a motion on Monday in order to launch a debate on physician-assisted death.
“While the availability of medically assisted dying will provide relief from pain and suffering for many Albertans, it is a brand new area of practice and it is important that we ensure it is being practised safely,” Associate Health Minister Brandy Payne said in a news release Monday. “The government can step in with further regulations or legislation if there are safety or access concerns, or vulnerable people are not being adequately safeguarded.”
The move comes a week before physician-assisted death is set to become legal across the country. Last year, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled medical assistance in dying will become legal in Canada on June 6.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been urging parliamentarians to pass Bill C-14 – his government’s controversial legislation on the issue – ahead of the Supreme Court’s deadline.
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The Notley government said its motion was introduced following months of consultations with Albertans and that it also plans to hear from opposition MLAs before moving ahead with a regulatory framework guided by Bill C-14.
Payne chaired the consultations, which included an online survey that garnered 15,000 responses, as well as a request for submissions from stakeholder groups and community advocates. The full results of the consultations can be viewed online.
“We’ve consulted extensively with the medical community, many stakeholders and the public regarding medical assistance in dying,” Health Minister Sarah Hoffman said in a news release Monday afternoon. “We have heard them, and our next step is an open and public debate in our legislature on this deeply personal issue. We will then move forward with a regulatory framework that strikes an appropriate balance between individuals’ right to access, conscience rights, the need to protect vulnerable individuals and the safety of patients.”
The government also indicated that one year after the practice of physician-assisted death begins, it will review the regulatory measures surrounding it.
Earlier this month, the family of an Alberta woman suffering from a mental condition, applauded the courts for granting her a physician-assisted death.
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The woman, known in court documents as E.F., has severe conversion disorder, which has left her effectively blind, unable to eat and in constant pain.
A Court of Queen’s Bench judge allowed her an assisted death in early May and the Alberta Court of Appeal later upheld the decision.
In February, a Calgary woman who received a legal exemption for a physician-assisted death, ended her life in Vancouver with the help of two physicians.
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