Doctor-assisted suicide panel includes original Crown witnesses

The three-person panel to advise the federal government on doctor-assisted suicide includes two of the Crown's witnesses in the original case that led to the landmark Supreme Court ruling.

The federal government has named three academics, including an expert on palliative care, to lead consultations on how to respond to the Supreme Courtruling on doctor-assisted dying.

• Consultations soon, but no assisted dying law before election,MacKaysays
• Supreme Court rules doctors can help some people end their lives

Harvey Max Chochinov, theCanada research chair in palliative care at the University of Manitoba, will headthe panel. The other two members areCatherine Frazee, a former co-director of the Ryerson-RBC Institute for Disability Studies Research and Education,and Benot Pelletier, aUniversity of Ottawa law professor and former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister.

Chochinov and Frazeewere both witnesses used to support the Crown's case against doctor-assisted dying in the original British Columbia Supreme Court challenge, which eventually led to the Supreme Court of Canada ruling that asserted the rightof some patients to ask for a doctor's help to die.

Josh Paterson, executive director of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, said whilehis organization has no concerns about the panel members' credentials, they are worried about the"appearance of a lack of impartiality."

The BCCLAfiled the original lawsuit in the case.

"Two of the members of the panel, while well-respected people in their fields, were witnesses for the Crown in this case against us, were people [who] have been vociferous, loud opponents of physician-assisted dying, publicly, all the way through, and were part of the government's case against this. So we're really disappointed with the composition."

Report due by late fall

Last February, the Supreme Courtruled people withgrievous and irremediable medical conditions should have the right to ask a doctor to help them die.

The case was brought forwardby Kathleen Carter, 89, who had the painful degenerative condition spinalstenosis. Her daughter, Lee, took her to Switzerland in 2010 for an assisted death.

The court limited the right to competent adults with enduring, intolerable suffering who clearly consent to ending their lives.

The court gave federal and provincial governments 12 months to craft legislation to respond to the ruling; the ban on doctor-assisted suicide stands until Feb. 6, 2016.

If the government doesn't write a new law, the court's exemption for physicians will stand.

Dr. ThomasBouchard, a board member of Canadian Physicians for Life, said he is pleasedChochinovis on the panel because of his experience in palliative care.BouchardsaidChochinovis an excellent physician andwell suited to deal with the complexity of the issue.

"It's hard to have a balanced panel if there'sonly three people,"Bouchardsaid. "If two are of one side and one ofthe other, somebody's going to complain.Of course, I'm happy because they're representative of a view that respects life until a natural end," he said.

"When people make a request for assisted death, they're crying out for help and whether that's for palliative care or a thoughtful and caring physicianwe have to step up our game and provide even more care for this person who is in probably some moral distress as well as some physical distress."

The only direct consultations to be done by the panel, according to the government'sfrequently asked questions, will be those who intervened in the Supreme Courtcase, as well as "relevant medical authorities."

The panel is toprovide a final report to the ministers of justice and healthby late fall.

Government to seek extension

The language in the court decision leaves several big questions for lawmakers and those who regulate the medical profession.

The court didn't limit the right to those with physical suffering, leaving the possibility those with severe depression and mental illness could ask for the right to die. And while the language is plain, "grievous" is hard to define in medical terms.

It also didn't limit the right to ask for help for those with physical disabilities that would prevent them from taking action on their own, leaving open the possibilityan able-bodied personcould request a physician's assistance to end his or her life.

Justice Minister Peter MacKaysaid last month that consultations had started informally and described the process as including an online component to let any Canadian comment, plus roundtable discussions.

"We are going to have a panel made up of people who have obvious interest and knowledge and background in this area, people from the medical, legal, ethics [communities]," MacKay told Rosemary Barton on CBC News Network's Power & Politics.

"Certainly afaith-based perspective [is sought], the disabilities community [has]an enormousinterest in this.We want to have as broad a consultation, as inclusive a process as possible."

While the court gave the government a year to respond, that includes the summerand at least a 37-day election campaign periodsParliament doesn't sit. The government also slowed down the process by waiting five months to announce its panel of experts.

MacKay said the next attorney general would ask for an extension from the Supreme Court to avoid the law being voided.