Justice Minister says no outside expert confirmed constitutionality of Bill 16

Justice Minister Mark Furey says no outside experts told his department that the new Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act is constitutional.

After witnesses at the law amendments committee heavily criticized the new legislation on Monday —arguing that the bill’s guardianship orders were created under the now-unconstitutional Incompetent Persons Act — Furey told reporters other people who were consulted said it was constitutional.

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“We’re confident that the bill as its written is constitutional,” he said on Monday. “We’ve reached out to the legal community and the academics — even those who are critical of the bill in that it hasn’t gone far enough — believe its constitutional.”

But following requests from Global News for a list of the people who said the bill was in line with the Charter, Furey said no one had directly said that it follows the Constitution.

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“Nobody had communicated directly that the bill was constitutional there were strengths in the bill, there were areas where they felt there was a need for improvement. But we believe collectively, based on all of those discussions, that the bill is constitutional,’ he said on Tuesday.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Nobody had communicated directly that the bill was constitutional there were strengths in the bill, there were areas where they felt there was a need for improvement. But we believe collectively, based on all of those discussions, that the bill is constitutional,' he said on Tuesday.

Asked why he told reporters that advice he received was that it is constitutional, Furey said he was “trying to portray that through the consultation process, having engaged all of those players, we came to a collective decision that the bill was constitutional.”

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2:42 Experts gives N.S. government’s attempt to replace the Incompetent Persons Act a failing grade

Of particular concern to witnesses at the law amendments committee is that Bill 16 carries forward guardianship orders made under the now-unconstitutional incompetent persons act.

Multiple presenters predicted that it will face a constitutional challenge in its current form.

The government says while those orders are carried over they are subject to the same “duties and obligations” under the new act.

Witnesses also said the bill doesn’t go far enough in ensuring that other ways of supporting the decision-making for a person with a cognitive or intellectual disability are exercised before a guardianship order is made.

Furey says he wants to see the bill passed in the current sitting. He said he can’t yet say whether the government will accept any amendments to the bill, but that the government is “open” to changes.