Since the Supreme Court of Canada's landmark ruling in
Carter v.
Canada (Attorney General)
("Carter") on February 6, 2015,
physicians and other health professionals, the legal community, and
particularly those directly affected by the prospect of
physician-assisted death have been awaiting legislative and
parliamentary response.
While the Supreme Court ruled that, in certain circumstances,
physician-assisted death does not contravene sections 241(b) and 14
of the Criminal Code of Canada (the
"Criminal Code") , the ruling
was suspended for one year to allow federal and provincial
governments to enact legislation, and to allow regulatory bodies to
develop policies that would provide clearer guidance on this very
controversial issue. That is, physician-assisted death would
continue to be a criminal offence until February 6, 2016, and it
was up to Parliament, provincial legislatures, and regulatory
bodies to respond with the guidelines and circumstances under
