A4 | NEWS OTHEGLOBEANDMAIL | FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER13,
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says more Canadians must have
access to medically assisted death, going the furthest of the
major party leaders in his response to a Quebec court ruling
that struck down restrictions limiting it to terminally ill
patients.
Canadians who need to make the decision to seek an
assisted death “for their dignity” should be able to make that
choice, Mr. Singh said while speaking outside a hospital in
Brampton, Ont.
“Right now, the criteria being too narrow, doesn’t allow
access to this decision for a lot of people,” he said.
“I am open to looking at ways to making sure the access is
improved and that we do it in a way that respects the dignity
of someone to make that choice.”
Quebec Superior Court Justice Christine Baudouin re-
leased the decision on Wednesday, which happened to coin-
cide with the official start of the 40-day election campaign.
Justice Baudouin singled out a portion of the federal assist-
ed-dying law as unconstitutional – the requirement that
patients’ deaths need to be “reasonably foreseeable.”
She also suspended her ruling for six months to give legis-
lators the opportunity to deal with its impact, while exempt-
ing the two plaintiffs to allow them to move ahead with seek-
ing access to medically assisted deaths.
When the Liberals introduced the assisted-dying legisla-
tion, legal experts warned it was not in keeping with the 2015
Supreme Court ruling that struck down the ban on physi-
cian-assisted death.
The Liberal government maintained, however, that its
approach struck the right bal-
ance.
“It falls to Parliament not only
to respect the court’s decision,
but also listen to the diverse voic-
es and decide what the public in-
terest demands,” former justice
minister Jody Wilson-Raybould
said in 2016.
Ms. Wilson-Raybould, who re-
signed from Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau’s cabinet in February
over the SNC-Lavalin controver-
sy, is running in this election as an
independent in a British Colum-
bia riding.
On Thursday, Mr. Trudeau
echoed the need to strike the
right approach – between protecting the “most vulnerable”
while respecting peoples’ rights and choices.
The Liberals welcome the fact a court has pronounced it-
self on this, he said, adding the party looks forward to reading
the judgment very carefully to determine next steps.
“We always knew, however, that there would be a contin-
ued evolution and reflection in the courts and in society
about the next steps to take,” Mr. Trudeau said at a campaign
stop in Victoria.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer called the Quebec
Superior Court’s decision a “very important ruling” on
Thursday, adding it will change the lives of many Canadians.
“As we said when this bill was brought forward by the Lib-
eral government, this is an issue with many different aspects
to it, so we will continue to review the ruling and we will have
something official to say on that,” Mr. Scheer said in French in
Toronto.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said Thursday she
agrees with the court’s decision, adding that the law, in its
current form, does not respect the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms.
Ms. May said she spoke out numerous times on the restric-
tions set out in the law.
“Canadians have the right to die in peace and with re-
spect,” she added in a statement.
In a note to fellow senators on Thursday, Senator Serge
Joyal urged the federalgovernment to ask the Supreme Court
of Canada to determine whether the “reasonably foreseea-
ble” restriction is constitutionally sound and respects the
Charter.
“Swift justice must be rendered as soon as possible for all
Canadians,” he wrote.Courtrulingonassisted
deaths pursright-to-die
debateoncampaigntrail
KRISTYKIRKUP
PARLIAMENTARYAFFAIRSREPORTERWhen the Liberals
introduced the
assisted-dying
legislation, legal
experts warned it
was not in keeping
with the 2015
Supreme Court
ruling that struck
down the ban on
physician-assisted
death.New York took the first step on
Thursday toward repealing its
ban on gay-conversion therapy,
aiming to avert a legal challenge
that could put LGBTQ rights at
risk nationwide, officials said.
The legal challenge has come
from a conservative Christian
group, the Alliance Defending
Freedom (ADF), that claims the
therapy ban is censorship of free
speech and unconstitutional.
Several U.S. states and cities
have banned conversion therapy,
which rests on the belief that
being LGBT+ is a mental illness
that can be cured, either for mi-
nors or altogether.
Hundreds of thousands of
LGBTQ Americans have under-
gone the widely discredited proc-
ess that uses psychological, spiri-
tual or physical practices, accord-
ing to a study by the UCLA
School of Law in California.
A bill to repeal the therapy
ban in the New York City Council
was introduced on Thursday by
its speaker, Corey Johnson, who
said he had consulted with
LGBTQ rights advocates.
Advocates fear the legal chal-
lenge by the ADF could make its
way through the increasingly
conservative federal courts to the
U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. President Donald Trump
has made scores of conservative
judicial appointments, including
two Supreme Court justices.
If successful, advocates fear
the ADF case could give the con-
servative courts an opportunity
to set legal precedents that could
have broad negative implications
for LGBTQ rights.
“The courts have changed
considerably over the last few
years, and we cannot count on
them to rule in favor of much-
needed protections for the
LGBTQ community,” Mr. John-
son, who is openly gay, said in a
statement e-mailed to the Thom-
son Reuters Foundation.“This was a painful decision,”
he said. “I listened to the advo-
cates who know the issue best, as
well as my heart. I will never stop
fighting for the community I am
so proud to be a part of.”
In the ADF’s view, the ban
threatened the constitutional
right of New York citizens “to
have whatever private conversa-
tions they want to have,” said
Roger Brooks, an attorney for thegroup, in a statement.
“A Supreme Court decision
making clear that psychologists,
counselors, and their patients
continue to enjoy their First
Amendment rights ... would be
an important victory for free
speech,” he said.
Attorneys for ADF also
represented a Colorado baker,
who won a Supreme Court victo-
ry in 2018 over his refusal to
make a wedding cake for a gay
couple.
The ADF is listed as a hate
group by the Southern Poverty
Law Center, a civil-rights organi-
zation that tracks and monitors
right-wing groups.
If New York repeals its ban,
“that will be the right thing to
do,” the ADF said in a statement.
“We commend them for it.”
Nationwide, however, efforts
to ban conversion therapy for
people younger than 18 are gain-
ing momentum, and this year
New York State lawmakers ap-
proved such a ban.
“The city council’s action will
stop unnecessary litigation after
the passage of statewide protec-
tions and save valuable resources
that can be used to help LGBTQ
residents,” said Amit Paley, the
head of The Trevor Project, a sui-
cide-prevention group, in an
e-mail.
Eighteen U.S. states have
banned conversion therapy for
minors, with legislation pending
in 21 more, according to Born
Perfect, an advocacy group that
wants to ban the practice.
Most children are signed up by
their parents.REUTERSCoreyJohnson,theNewYorkCityCouncilspeaker,announcesabilltorepealthecity’sbanongay-conversion
therapyatCityHallonThursday.LGBTQadvocatesareconcernedalegalchallengefiledagainstthecitybya
conservativeChristianorganizationcouldreachtheU.S.SupremeCourt.DAVE SANDERS/THE NEW YORK TIMES
NewYorkmovestorepealban
ongay-conversiontherapy
Citycouncilintroduces
billinbidtoneutralize
legalchallengethatsays
banningthepractice
infringesonfreespeech
OSCARLOPEZMEXICOCITY
This was a painful
decision. I listened to
the advocates who
know the issue best, as
well as my heart. I will
never stop fighting for
the community I am so
proud to be a part of.COREYJOHNSON
NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER