An Ontarian has successfully sought a constitutional exemption from sections 241(b) and 14 of the Criminal Code RSC, 1985, c C-46, allowing him to access physician assisted-suicide (“PAS”). The applicant, A.B., was an 80-year-old gentleman with advanced-stage aggressive lymphoma. Interestingly, this case raised the competing values of privacy and the open court principle. In AB […]
On February 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) handed down its decision in Carter v Canada (Attorney General), [2015] 1 SCR 331 [Carter] – a historic ruling wherein the criminal prohibition on physician assisted suicide was declared unconstitutional, inconsistent with section 7 of the Charter. The declaration of invalidity was suspended by one […]
Early on a rainy morning, I arrived to the Supreme Court of Canada and was lucky enough to be able to watch the Carter v Canada (Attorney General) [Carter] appeal. In this case, several plaintiffs challenged the Criminal Code provisions prohibiting physician assisted suicide and voluntary euthanasia under sections 7 and 15 of the Charter. […]
Mr. Rasouli has been in a persistent vegetative state at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (“Sunnybrook”) since October 2010. For the past three years, he has been kept alive by way of mechanical ventilation and artificial nutrition and hydration. His doctors saw no prospect of recovery, and sought to withdraw Mr. Rasouli’s life support in order […]
On June 15, 2012, Justice Smith of the British Columbia Supreme Court effectively created an exception to the Criminal Code to allow for physician-assisted suicide. The trial judgement Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) was discussed briefly in a previous post on The Court. Justice Smith gave Parliament a year to amend the laws surrounding assisted suicide, and the Government of Canada appealed […]