Lametti opposed bill on assisted dying but as federal justice minister won´t push to change it
(The Star Toronto Raptors)

OTTAWA—Newly-named Justice Minister David Lametti says he “feels badly� for terminally ill patients who are not able to legally obtain medical assistance to die, but he will not push to change the law on informed consent before the next election.Any changes would have to wait until the conclusion of a five-year parliamentary review about how the new regime is working, says Lametti. That review is not expected to happen until 2021, five years after the bill passed, meaning well into the next government’s mandate.Lametti, when asked if he would change the law if the Liberal government is re-elected to a new term and he is back in the justice portfolio, said only that “Certainly we’ll commit to a legislative process that looks at all the issues that have been raised.�Groups like Dying with Dignity Canada say the law’s requirement that grievously ill patients be able to offer “informed consent� at the time of any procedure puts it beyond reach of many patients in advanced stages of diseases like cancer, who otherwise meet all the eligibility criteria.When Parliament debated the bill to allow assisted suicide for patients in 2016 — which was the government’s response to a Supreme Court of Canada ruling recognizing it as a right — Lametti was one of four Liberal MPs who voted against it.Read more: Liberal-dominated committee votes to limit investigation of allegations of improper political influence on Wilson-RaybouldDecision whether to extradite Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou will take political factors into account, new justice minister saysNew video shows late Halifax activist pleading for change to assisted dying rulesA McGill University law prof who took a leave to enter politics, Lametti specifically voiced his concern the law was open to a constitutional challenge by patients who would be forced to either suffer or choose an earlier death while they still had the mental capacity to offer ...