Pressure builds on Dubé to expand access to medical aid in dying

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There are only 14 parliamentary working days remaining until the end of the session, and an election in the fall.

The Canadian Press

Caroline Plante

Sandra Demontigny in her home in Lévis. Demontigny, who is suffering from early Alzheimer's disease, wants medical aid in dying for when the time comes.
Sandra Demontigny in her home in Lévis. Demontigny, who is suffering from early Alzheimer’s disease, wants medical aid in dying for when the time comes. Photo by Jacques Boissinot /The Canadian Pressfiles

QUEBEC — Health Minister Christian Dubé is under increasing pressure to table a bill to allow people with Alzheimer’s disease to get medical aid in dying.

On Thursday, Quebec’s three opposition parties held a news conference with Sandra Demontigny, who has a form of Alzheimer’s, and Georges L’Espérance, of the Association québécoise pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité.

They pleaded with Dubé to follow up on a unanimous report submitted Dec. 8 by a special committee to expand medical aid in dying, and asked that he do so before the parliamentary session ends June 10.

In Quebec, patients must be able to consent when they receive medical aid in dying. The committee recommended allowing people with Alzheimer’s and similar diseases to offer their consent in advance.

There are 14 parliamentary working days remaining, which leaves little time to study such a bill in detail, especially as Dubé is already shepherding three health-related bills.


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