Assisted Dying - Recent Developments in Canada

Udo Schuklenk (Queen's University)

The Royal Sociey of Canada released recently a landmark report on end-of-life decision-making in Canada. The international expert panel that produced the report recommended that the provision of palliative care be significantly improved, that the country begin to plan for significant increases in the number of elderly people requiring intensive care, and that assisted dying be decriminalised. The presentation will describe the ethical analysis leading to the deciminalisation recommendation, as well as its constitutional context. Since then significant developments toward the decriminalisation of assisted dying in the country have occurred. They will be described in some detail. I will conclude this talk by reflecting on how public discourse on assisted dying has changed during the last 15 years or so.