First Session, Forty-fourth Parliament, 70-71 Elizabeth II, 2021-2022

SENATE OF CANADA

BILL S-250 An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)

FIRST READING, June 14, 2022

This enactment amends the Criminal Code to establish an offence with respect to sterilization procedures.

1st Session, 44th Parliament, 70-71 Elizabeth II, 2021-2022

SENATE OF CANADA

BILL S-250

An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)

Preamble

Whereas the sterilization of persons without their consent is a legacy of systemic discrimination, colonization and racism that disproportionally, but not exclusively, affects Indigenous and racialized persons;

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

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Sterilization

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Definitions

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268.‍1 (1) The following definitions apply in this section.

medical practitioner has the same meaning as in section 241.‍1. (médecin)

sterilization procedure means

• (a) the severing, clipping, tying or cauterizing, in whole or in part, of the Fallopian tubes, ovaries or uterus of a person for the primary purpose of surgically preventing conception; or

• (b) any other act performed on a person for the primary purpose of permanently preventing conception. (acte de stérilisation)

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Offence

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(2) Despite section 45, everyone who performs a sterilization procedure on a person is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.

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Exception

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(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if the sterilization procedure is performed by a medical practitioner who has obtained the consent of the person to perform the procedure and has complied with the requirements set out in subsections (5) and (6).

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Consent

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(4) For the purpose of paragraph (3), no consent is obtained if

• (a) the person is under the age of 18;

• (b) the person is incapable of consenting to the sterilization procedure for any reason; or

• (c) the person has not initiated a voluntary request to undergo a sterilization procedure.

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Safeguards

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(5) Before performing a sterilization procedure on a person, the medical practitioner must first

• (a) take all appropriate and reasonable measures to inform the person

  • (i) of alternative methods of contraception designed to temporarily prevent conception, and

  • (ii) that they could, at any time and in any manner before undergoing a sterilization procedure, withdraw their consent; and

• (b) be satisfied that

  • (i) the person understands the information that is provided to them, taking into account any circumstances that may affect the person’s capacity to understand the information that is provided to them,

  • (ii) the person has provided informed consent for the procedure, and

  • (iii) the request to undergo a sterilization procedure was not made as a result of external pressure or someone abusing their position of trust, power or authority.

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Safeguard — final consent

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(6) Immediately before performing a sterilization procedure, the medical practitioner must give the person the opportunity to withdraw their consent.

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Coerced sterilization

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(7) Everyone who, by means of deception or the use of intimidation, threat, force or any other form of coercion, causes or attempts to cause a person to undergo a sterilization procedure is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than 14 years.

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Clause 1: New.