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Legislation Update Bill C-7, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying) On October 5, 2020, the Federal government reintroduced Bill C-7, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying) (the “Bill”), proposing changes to the Criminal Code’s provisions on medical assistance in dying (“MAID”). The News Release of the same date explains that the Bill is the same that was introduced in the previous session of Parliament on February 24, 2020 which was outlined in the February 2020 Charity & NFP Law Update. The Bill removes from the Criminal Code the requirement that a person’s death must be reasonably foreseeable to be eligible for MAID because the Superior Court of Quebec found the requirement to be unconstitutional in Truchon c. Procureur general du Canada. However, to be eligible for MAID, a person must still have a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” as defined in the Criminal Code. If mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition, the person is not eligible for MAID. The Bill provides new provisions on who can witness the signing of a request for MAID and expands the collection of data related to MAID. Removal of the requirement that death be reasonably foreseeable created the need for additional safeguards for people whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, so that the Bill provides two sets of safeguards, one applicable to persons whose death is reasonably foreseeable and another applicable to persons where it is not. For example, there is no waiting period between the signing of a request for MAID and the day it is provided for people whose death is reasonably foreseeable. By contrast, there is a 90 day waiting period for people whose death is not reasonably foreseeable unless two physicians judge that loss of capacity is imminent. When natural death is reasonably foreseeable, the Bill provides criteria for waiving the requirement that consent be given immediately before MAID is provided. The Bill does not deal with advance requests or the eligibility of mature minors for MAID. Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy) On October 1, 2020, Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy) (“Bill C-6”) was introduced by the Federal government in the House of Commons. As explained in the News Release of the same date, Bill C-6 is similar to Bill C-8, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy), introduced on March 9, 2020. If passed, Bill C-6 would criminalize certain acts related to conversion therapy, a practice intended to change an individual’s sexual orientation, including counselling and behavioural modification. Bill C-6 proposes the following five new criminal offences: (a) causing a person to undergo conversion therapy against their will; (b) causing a minor to undergo conversion therapy; (c) removing a minor from Canada to undergo conversion therapy; (d) advertising an offer to provide conversion therapy; and (e) profiting from the provision of conversion therapy. Bill C-6 would also authorize courts to order the seizure of conversion therapy advertisements or their removal from computer systems or the Internet. |
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