Federal and provincial statutes should ideally be harmonized, if that were to prove necessary.
In conclusion, developments in Canadian legislation on medical assistance in dying are consistent with the perspective of long-term recognition of the fundamental right of every human being to choose when and how to die with the assistance of a third party, that is, a physician or other health professional.
Although that right is not formally acknowledged or entrenched in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it is hinted at in connection with a number of rights and freedoms.
For the time being, the exercise of that right is tempered by various safeguards that constitute so many limitations on the full exercise of that right. This includes the requirement that a person have a grievous and irremediable medical condition, be in constant, intolerable and incurable suffering, exhibit advanced and irreversible decline in capacities, be of adult age and have the capacity to give or waive consent.
Thank you for listening.