Fixing our assisted dying laws with Jocelyn Downie

Uncommons with Nate Erskine-Smith

The federal government has introduced Bill C-7 to fix our assisted dying laws and address the unconstitutionality of its past legislative effort. But there remain problems with the law as drafted, and Professor Jocelyn Downie joins Nate to discuss those problems and how to fix them.

Professor Downie is an expert in the law of assisted dying in Canada. In 2004, she published a book on the subject, and she worked with a pro bono legal team in the 2015 case of Carter in which our Supreme Court unanimously recognized a constitutional right to death with dignity. Since then, Professor Downie has participated in several expert panels on physician-assisted dying, and she has been critical of the government’s legislative efforts for failing to respect the rights set out by the court in Carter.

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