Federal doctor-assisted dying bill would have allowed Quebec man to end life sooner

A Quebecmanwho starved himself in order to qualify for doctor-assisted death would have been able to legally end his life sooner under new proposed federal legislation.

JeanBrault, 61, who suffered from a debilitating handicap, went 53 days without eating and eight days without water before he qualified for medical assisted death.

"This bill, the way it is designed, would have allowed him to have access to assisted suicide.That's my interpretation of the clinical situation of that man," QuebecHealth MinisterGatanBarrette said Thursday.

Brault, who lived in Sherbrooke, Que. legally ended his life on April 7, after years of thwarted suicide attempts.

• Doctor-assisted death obtained by Sherbrooke man who starved himself to qualify
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Barrette applauded the proposedlegislation on doctor-assisted death tabled inParliament today, nearly four months after the province's landmark end-of-life care law went into effect.

"All the aspects of Quebec'slaw about end-of-life care, everything we have in Quebec, is transposed into the federal bill," he said.

The long-awaited federal bill,C-14,lays out the criteria under which Canadians would be able to seekmedical helpto die, limiting that right to mentally competent adults with aserious and incurable illness, disease or disability.

Italso sets out safeguards to protect vulnerable Canadians.

C-14 broadens eligibility

Last December, Quebec's Court of Appeal upheld provincialBill 52,also known as an act respecting end-of-life care,which was passed by the Quebec National Assembly in June 2014, allowingterminally ill patientsto seek medical help to die.

• Read the text ofbillC-14on medical-assisted dying

If passed as tabled, the federal billwould make moreQuebecerseligiblefor doctor-assisted death.

"They are going a bit further than we are.They are allowing access to assisted suicide but in specific situations that are related to health problems," Barrette said.

In Quebec, the lawallows for andoutlines under which conditions terminally illQuebecerscan request to receive medical aid indying.

• Quebec's new assisted-dying law leaves doctors struggling to adapt

The main indicator for requesting medical aid in dying is "an incurable disease, an incurable illness, which is causing unbearable suffering."

Barrette and JusticeMinisterStphanieVallesay once C-14 is passed,thefederal criteria wouldalso apply to Quebec, since they would be enshrined in Canada'sCriminal Code.