Canada's Federal government will not support assisted suicide.

The Canadian Press reported that Canada's Minister of Health, the Hon Rona Ambrose unequivocally stated:

"We do not support assisted suicide--that is our government's clear position."

Rona Ambrose

Following the discussion on Friday, October 4, 2013 between the federal and provincial health ministers, Ambrose said to the media:

"Quebec is going through the motions of debate in their legislature, and should that pass, then obviously we would look to see what to do with that, and if it does end up in court, then the courts would decide about the jurisdiction."

The Quebec government introduced Bill 52, a bill that would legalize euthanasia through the back-door by re-defining euthanasia as medical treatment, even though euthanasia is defined in the Federal Criminal Code as a form of homicide.

Bill 384, a bill that would have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada, was debated in Canada's parliament in 2009-10. In April 2010, the Bill 384 was defeated by an overwhelming margin of 228 to 59, with the majority of the Conservatives, Liberals and NDP rejecting the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.

Rejean Hebert

At the same press conference, Quebec's Health Minister, Rejean Hebert said about Bill 52:

"Its not assisted suicide, It's medical aid for dying"

Hebert is right. Bill 52 legalizes euthanasia, under the euphemism "medical aid in dying" it does not legalize assisted suicide. 

Bill 52 gives physicians the right to lethally inject their patients, but Bill 52 does not allow physicians to write lethal prescriptions for a patient to "self-administer."

If Bill 52 passes, without amendments, in the Quebec National Assembly it appears that the Federal government will launch a court challenge. 

The federal government has a very strong case because lethal injections (euthanasia) are not a form of medical treatment (provincial jurisdiction) but rather a form of homicide (federal jurisdiction).