Bill C-582

2nd Session, 41st Parliament,

62-63 Elizabeth II, 2013-2014

house of commons of canada

BILL C-582

An Act to establish the Canadian Commission on Physician-Assisted Death

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Canadian Commission on Physician-Assisted Death.

INTERPRETATION

2. The following definitions apply in this Act.

“Commission” means the Canadian Commission on Physician-Assisted Death established under section 3.

“physician-assisted death” means voluntary euthanasia that is performed by a physician, or the act of intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of a physician who provides the knowledge, means, or both.

ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION

3. A commission is established, to be known as the Canadian Commission on Physician-Assisted Death.

PURPOSES OF COMMISSION

4. The Commission is for all its purposes an agent of Her Majesty and it may exercise its powers only as an agent of Her Majesty.

5. The purpose of the Commission is to produce public information on physician-assisted death and to support law and policy reform with respect to physician-assisted death by

(a) developing a form to solicit non-identifying information about physician-assisted death, including, but not limited to, information about persons making a request for physician-assisted death, including their age, sex, marital status, education level, income level, medical condition, and reasons for seeking assistance;

(b) collecting and analysing data from the completed forms;

(c) generating and making available to the public an annual statistical report of information collected under this Act;

(d) commissioning research based on patient medical record reviews in accordance with relevant federal, provincial, and territorial law and policy; and

(e) making recommendations to the Attorney General of Canada about potential law and policy reform with respect to physician-assisted death in Canada.

ORGANIZATION

6. The Commission consists of a Chair and four other Commissioners to be appointed by the Governor in Council.

7. The Chair is the chief executive officer of the Commission and presides at meetings of the Commission.

8. The Commissioners must elect one of themselves as Vice-Chair of the Commission.

9. If the Chair is absent or unable to act, or if the office of Chair is vacant, the Vice-Chair has all the powers, duties and functions of the Chair.

10. The Chair is to be paid the remuneration that is fixed by the Governor in Council.

11. The Commissioners, other than the Chair, are to be paid the fees that are fixed by the Governor in Council.

12. A Commissioner is entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred by the Commissioner while absent from the Commissioner’s ordinary place of residence in the course of performing duties under this Act.

BY-LAWS

13. The Commission may make by-laws respecting generally the conduct and management of the work of the Commission.