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Bill C-390

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First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament,

70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023-2024

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-390
An Act to amend the Criminal Code (provincial medical assistance in dying framework)

FIRST READING, May 22, 2024

Ms. Bérubé

441363


SUMMARY

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to provide that medical assistance in dying may be provided under a provincial framework that allows a person who has an illness that will deprive them of the capacity to consent to care to make an advance request for such assistance.

Available on the House of Commons website at the following address:
www.ourcommons.ca


1st Session, 44th Parliament,

70-71 Elizabeth II – 1-2 Charles III, 2021-2022-2023-2024

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

BILL C-390

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (provincial medical assistance in dying framework)

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

R.‍S.‍, c. C-46

Criminal Code

1(1)Subsections 227(1) and (2) of the Criminal Code are replaced by the following:

Exemption for medical assistance in dying
227(1)No medical practitioner or nurse practitioner commits culpable homicide if they provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .
Exemption for person aiding practitioner
(2)No person is a party to culpable homicide if they do anything for the purpose of aiding a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .

(2)Subsection 227(4) of the Act is replaced by the following:

Non-application of section 14
(4)Section 14 does not apply with respect to a person who consents to have death inflicted on them by means of medical assistance in dying provided in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .

2Subsections 241(2) to (5) of the Act are replaced by the following:

Exemption for medical assistance in dying

(2)No medical practitioner or nurse practitioner commits an offence under paragraph (1)‍(b) if they provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .

Exemption for person aiding practitioner

(3)No person is a party to an offence under paragraph (1)‍(b) if they do anything for the purpose of aiding a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to provide a person with medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .

Exemption for pharmacist

(4)No pharmacist who dispenses a substance to a person other than a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner commits an offence under paragraph (1)‍(b) if the pharmacist dispenses the substance further to a prescription that is written by such a practitioner in providing medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .

Exemption for person aiding patient

(5)No person commits an offence under paragraph (1)‍(b) if they do anything, at another person’s explicit request, for the purpose of aiding that other person to self-administer a substance that has been prescribed for that other person as part of the provision of medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .

3The Act is amended by adding the following after section 241.‍1:

Eligibility for medical assistance in dying

Start of inserted block
241.‍11A person may receive medical assistance in dying if
  • (a)they meet the criteria set out in subsection 241.‍2(1); or

  • (b)they meet the criteria of a provincial framework that allows a person who has an illness that will deprive them of the capacity to consent to care to make an advance request for medical assistance in dying.

    End of inserted block

4The portion of subsection 241.‍2(1) of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Eligibility criteria for medical assistance in dying

241.‍2(1)A person may receive medical assistance in dying if they meet all of the following criteria:

5The portion of section 241.‍3 of the Act before paragraph (a) is replaced by the following:

Failure to comply with safeguards

241.‍3A medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who, in providing medical assistance in dying, knowingly fails to comply, subject to subsection 241.‍2(3.‍2), with all the requirements set out in paragraphs 241.‍2(3)‍(b) to (h) or paragraphs 241.‍2(3.‍1)‍(b) to (k) Insertion start or all the requirements of an applicable provincial framework Insertion end , as the case may be, and with subsection 241.‍2(8) is guilty of

6Paragraphs 245(2)‍(a) and (b) of the Act are replaced by the following:

  • (a)a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who provides medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end ; and

  • (b)a person who does anything for the purpose of aiding a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner to provide medical assistance in dying in accordance with section 241.‍2 Insertion start or an applicable provincial framework Insertion end .

Published under authority of the Speaker of the House of Commons

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