Nova Scotia announced on Thursday that regulations for the Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act — characterized as a bill designed to give more autonomy to people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities — have been approved and the controversial bill will come into force on Dec. 28.
According to the province, the regulations detail who can carry out capacity assessments, how they will do it and what the work will cost, and the requirements of representation plans.
Under the new regulations, physicians and psychologists will be able to do a capacity assessment while other health professionals will be permitted once they completed specialized training.
“All Nova Scotians have the legal right to make decisions where they have capacity,” said Mark Furey, Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
“The new act will soon be in place to ensure those rights for people with diminished decision-making capacity.”
READ MORE: Budget, two replacement laws highlight 25-day sitting of Nova Scotia legislature
Criticism of the new legislation
Serving as a replacement for the Incompetent Persons Act — which was challenged and struck down by the courts in 2016 — the new act was passed during a 25-day sitting of the legislature this October.
Multiple groups had voiced concerns about the state of the bill before it was passed. It went ahead largely unchanged.
People First Nova Scotia, a self-advocacy group for people who have been labelled with an intellectual disability, was one of the groups.
“We’re frustrated, we’re upset. It’s like nobody’s listening to us,” Jeannie Whidden, a member of People First Nova Scotia, told Global News after the bill was passed.
“In my opinion, it’s like we need to get out of the past and into the future.”
The legislation was also criticized by legal experts who argued that the bill’s guardianship orders were created under the now-unconstitutional Incompetent Persons Act.
Despite the act’s intended purpose as a replacement for the unconstitutional Incompetent Persons Act, Nova Scotia’s Justice Minister Mark Furey admitted to Global News that no outside experts told his department that the new bill would be constitutional.
WATCH: Nova Scotia advocates unhappy, concerned with Adult Capacity and Decision-making Act
New improvements
A new regulation touted during Thursday’s announcement was the registry of all representation orders under the act, which wasn’t present in the previous legislation.
The Nova Scotia Public Trustee Office will have the authority to receive and investigate written complaints so that anyone can report a guardian’s or representative’s failure to act within the new piece of legislation.
The government will now allow Nova Scotians who want a capacity assessment to apply for assistance with cost. The applications will reportedly be reviewed by the Nova Scotia Public Trustee Office.
Information sessions
Nova Scotia also announced that they will hold two public information sessions early next year to inform citizens of the new regulations. The first session scheduled is Jan. 29, at 9 a.m. at Keshen Goodman Library in Halifax, N.S., and the second is Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. at Woodlawn Public Library in Dartmouth, N.S.
A video presentation will also be available on YouTube sometime in January.
- Buzz kill? Gen Z less interested in coffee than older Canadians, survey shows
- ‘She gets to be 10’: Ontario child’s heart donated to girl the same age
- Bird flu risk to humans an ‘enormous concern,’ WHO says. Here’s what to know
- Canada updating sperm donor screening criteria for men who have sex with men
Comments