Quebec called out for following Ottawa on 10-day delay for assisted-death
Quebec has no choice but to follow federal law, patients' rights lawyers says
Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette is defending the letter sent by his deputy minister to public health officials outlining guidelines on assisted-dying.
During a news conference Monday morning, Parti Québécois MNA Véronique Hivon claimed the deputy health minister sent a letter to the provincial orders of doctors, pharmacists and nurses informing them of a change to Quebec's law on end-of-life care.
The letter makes health professionals aware of provisions under the federal government's assisted-dying law, which came into effect June 17.
The federal assisted-dying law requires a 10-day delay between a patient's request for doctor-assisted death and the administration of the procedure.
Quebec's law doesn't stipulate a waiting period before a doctor-assisted death is administered, though patients have typically received the procedure within 48 to 72 hours.
When you're really ill, you're at the end your life and you're really suffering … Each hour, each day can be an interminable agony.- Véronique Hivon, PQ MNA
"They changed the law by simply sending out a letter," said Hivon, who is among five candidates campaigning to become the new PQ leader.
Barrette denies law has changed
But Barrette said the letter's purpose was to inform doctors about how to be compliant with both the existing Quebec law and the newly-adopted federal bill.
"There is not one iota of the law that has changed. [Quebec patients] still have access to the conditions they have had since December 15, 2015," Barrette said, referring to the date the Quebec law came into effect.
In the letter, deputy health minister Michel Fontaine recommended patients in Quebec make a request, wait 10 days, and then make a second request before finally receiving doctor-assisted death.
They will also need to have two independent witnesses sign-off on their request in addition to two doctors. Quebec's law currently only requires one witness.
Barrette says that if the patient's health is deteriorating to the point that 10 days is too long to wait, they can apply for an exemption.
Hivon introduced Quebec's original assisted-dying bill when her party was in power. She says it's no mistake that a waiting period wasn't included.
"When you're really ill, you're at the end your life and you're really suffering," she said. "Each hour, each day can be an interminable agony."
'A useless delay'
Jean-Pierre Ménard, a Montreal lawyer who specializes in patients' rights, agrees.
"It adds a useless delay … Several patients have not been able to have access to medical aid in dying because they passed away before. Most of the time when patients request it, it's because they are very, very close to the end of life." he said.
Ménard said it should be up to a doctor to determine if the delay is warranted due to a patient's "ambivalence" or other reasons.
But Ménard says the Quebec government has no choice but to follow Ottawa's lead because of "federal paramountcy."
"When there is a clear conflict between provincial and federal law on valid objects, as it is the case here, the federal law prevails."
According to the most recent numbers available, of the 253 people who have requested doctor-assisted death in Quebec since December 2015, 16 changed their minds before the procedure was carried out.
Hivon says the provincial law has already been reviewed and approved by Quebec's Court of Appeal and should not be so easily modified.
"I'm asking the minister of health and the minister of justice … as soon as today to correct what has been done and to say that it is the law that has to be followed, not the letter," she said.
with files from Arian Zarrinkoub