Assisted Death at the Supreme Court of Canada
| Author | Jocelyn Downie |
| Pages | 219-240 |
219
Assisted Death at the Supreme Court of
Canada
jocelyn downie
A. INTRODUCTION
One need only mention the names of Robert Latimer and Sue Rodriguez to
illustrate the high prole of assisted death at the Supreme Court of Canada
()—both are cases that brought enormous public attention to end of life
law and to the Court itself. In this chapter, I explore these a nd other cases re-
lated to assisted death at the . I discuss the major topics in assisted death
through the lens of a review of the major decisions and a consideration of
their implications for what is and is not permissible in Canada. roughout, I
indicate where I believe there may be (and ought to be) activity in the future
and what challenges might lie ahead for the Court .
Before proceeding, however, it is rst essential to dene some key terms in
order to avoid confusion. Also, what appears to be conict over conclusions is
actually oen due to the use of dierent meanings for the same terms, which
results in people talking past instead of with each other. I therefore oer here
denitions of the key terms as I will be using them th roughout this chapter.
Euthanasia is an act undertaken by person A with the intention of end-
ing the life of person B where person B considers her life no longer worth
living and where that act is the cause of death (for example, person B is
ese denitions are re vised versions of those found in Joce lyn Downie, Dying Justice: A
Case for Decrimina lizing Euthanasia and Ass isted Suicide in Canada (Toronto: Univer-
sity of Toronto Press, ) at –.
220 Health Law at the Supreme Court of Canada
bedridden with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis () and her physician
gives her a lethal injection of potassium chloride).
Assisted suicide is the act of intentionally killi ng oneself with the assist-
ance (that is, t he provision of knowledge a nd/or means) of another per-
son (for example, a person is bedridden with , her sister brings her a
lethal dose of a barbiturate ground up in a glass of orange juice , and she
drinks it through a straw).
Indirectly lethal sedation is total sedation (pain/suering control to
the point of unconsciousness) coupled with the withholding and with-
drawal of the articial hydration and nutrition required to sustain life
when unconsciousness is induced.
Potentially life-shortening symptom management is pain/suering con-
trol medication given in amounts that may, but are not certain to, short-
en a person’s life (for example, the ever-increasing levels of morphine
necessary to control an individual’s pain from terminal cancer where
the morphine is known to potentially depress respiration even to the
point of causing death, but it is not known precisely how much is too
much as the levels are slowly increased).
Withdrawal of potentially life-sustaining treatment is the stopping of treat-
ment that has the potential to sustain the life of a person (for example,
removing a feeding tube from a person in a persistent vegetative state).
Withholding of potentially life-sustaining treatment is the failure to start treat-
ment that has the potential to sustain the life of a person (for example, not
providing c ardiopulmonar y resuscitation to a person having a heart attack).
With the relevant terms dened, I move now to consider what the has
said about various forms of assisted death and to reect on the future of
jurisprudence in this area. I start w ith the most controversial issues, which are
also the issues on which the has spoken most directly. I then move to the
less controversial, less spoken about, and yet arguably the most important issues
(most important because future cases on these latter issues have the potential
ultimatel y to aect more people).
B. EUTHANASIA
Euthanasi a is clearly il legal in Ca nada. It is contrar y to the homicide prov isions
of the Criminal Code. Section (a)(i) of the Criminal Code states that “Cul-
Criminal Code, R.S.C. , c. C-.
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