The Federal Government is going to miss the Supreme Court of Canada deadline to pass an assisted dying law.
The bill passed through the House of Commons and onto the Senate last week.
But the Senate sent the bill to committee then adjourned until Tuesday, guaranteeing the bill wouldn’t meet the deadline.
Health Minister Leo Glavine says he wants one law across the country to deal with assisted dying.
“Nova Scotia will certainly not do its own regulation or anything at this stage. We’re going to wait for a county-wide approach to the issue.”
Glavine says that doesn’t leave Canadians without access.
“If the legislation is not there. The appeal to a judge is one of those options that certainly remains. That may become the default.”
Until a law is passed, doctors will use guidelines from the College of Physicians and Surgeons to shape their decisions about assisted dying.
Meanwhile, Sheilia Sperry with the Nova Scotia chapter of Dying with Dignity takes issue with the proposed bill.
She says she’s concerned the bill doesn’t allow for people with dimentia to make advance directives regarding their death.
“People will die by their own hands earlier than they need be” says Sperry, ” There’s got to be more compassion.”
She says asking that a person suffer from an incurable disease and their death is reasonably foreseeable before being permitted an assisted death is unreasonable.
“How do you say to a person, ‘yes I can see you’re suffering, but your not suffering enough. Come back in a few months.’”
Sperry says the report that was submitted to the House of Commons is a fine framework and is better than the bill in its current form.
She says the current bill is too restrictive and needs to include people suffering from chronic illness, mental illness and mature minors.
She wants the government to not be pressured by an arbitrary timeline and take the time to get this right.
