The Substitute Decisions Act: A Law of Unintended Consequences

• Author: Jan Goddard
• Pages: 167-188



The Substitute Decisions Act

ALAWOFUNINTENDEDCONSEQUENCES

JanGoddard*

Inma king lawswe shouldbe looking for waysto reduceco nicti n

peoplesliveswhereverthatispossible

A INT RODUCTION

The Substitute Decisions Act  SDA has been in eect for een

yearsT hepurpose of this paper is to examine some of the moresig-

nicanttrendsinthei nterpretationapplicationoroperationoftheSDA

overthepasteenyears

Thereare many aspects ofthe applicationor operationoft heS DA

thatarenotmeasuredorforwhichmeasurementsarenotpubliclyavail-

ableForexamplesinceand tothis daytheMinistr yofthe Aor-

neyGenerald istributesfree powerofaorneyk itstothe publicIfa ny

evaluationhas ever been donew ithre spect tooutcomes from the use

ofthesepowerof aorneykitsithas notbeenmadepubliclyavailable

Asanotherexampleitwouldseem impossibletomeasurethe extentto

 BALLBistheprincipalofJanGodda rdandAssociatesToronto

 TheHonourableCharlesHa rnickAorneyGeneralinmovi ngforsecondreading

ofBillAnActtorepealtheAdvocacyAc trevisetheConsenttoTreatmentAct

amendtheSubstituteDecisionsActandamendotherA ctsinrespectofrelated

maersOntarioLegisl ativeAssemblyHansardthParlstSessionNovem-

beronlinehphansardindexontlaonca hansardei ssuelhtm

 SOcasamendedSDA].

JG

whichsubstitutedecisionmakersforpersonalcarefollowtheprinciples

forsubstitutedecisionmakingsetoutinsect ionsandoftheSDA .

Thispaperwillusereportedcasesasitssourcefortheidentication

ofissuesandtrendsReportedcasesarenotnecessarilyrepresentativeof

theissuesthatariseinallcourtapplicationsoractionsinwhichtheSDA

hasbeenreviewedappliedorconsideredbuttheyarereadilyavailable

andsoitisunavoidablethattheyarethesourceforanalysis

Iftherewereonetrendthatisapparentfromthereportedcasesitis

that the S DAhascr eatedforumsinandoutofthecourtinwhichhigh

conict families can pursue disputes among their members Further

theonsetofdementiaforanolderfamilymemberisfrequentlythecata-

lystthatexacerbates existingd iscontentdislikes andrivalries orleads

tonewdisputes

Thisisnotwhatourlawmakersexpected

B FRAMEWORKOFTHESDA ANDHISTORYOF

ITSDEVELOPMENT

The SDAwasproclaimedinforceonAprilaspartofatrioofActs

thatwere intended bythe Ontario government tomodern izet helaws

withrespecttoconsenttotreatmentmentalcapacitysubstitutedecision

making and advocacy for vulnerable adults Within one year aer a

changeingovernmentthecomprehensivelegislativeschemecreatedby

the SDA the ConsenttoTreatmentAct and the AdvocacyAct

wassubstantiallyalteredbytherepealofthelaertwoActsTheConsent

toTreatmentActwasreplacedbytheHealth Care Consent Act 

HCCAonthatdateTheAdvocacyActwasnotreplaced

WhiletheSDA wasalsosubstantiallyamendedatthattimeitsbasic

structure andconcepts remainedthe sameToreviewthat legalframe-

workbrieytheSDAgovernsplanningformentalincapacityandsubsti-

tutedecisionmakingforincapableadultsTheActdividesitsframework

fortheseintotwobroadcategoriespropertyandtheperson

The Act provides that capablei ndividuals shall have vehicles for

designating their choice of substitute decision ma ker in advance of

incapacity through the mak ing of a continuing power of aorney for

propertya ndapower ofaorneyfor personal careIn theevent thata

personsadvanceplanning isinadequate ornonexistent theS DA pro-

 SOc

 SOc

 SOcScheduleAasamendedHCCA].