No court decision on St. John's man's request for doctor-assisted death

A St. John's man who is asking the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court to declare that a doctor can legally help end his life will have to wait for a ruling from the judge.

The Crown and the applicant's lawyer made arguments to the court Tuesday afternoon.

"The reality for me is that if I am successful in this application my client will die," said Kyle Rees, the lawyer for the 66-year-old.

"The reality for any of the physicians who are helping my client is that if they give my client the proper medical treatment that he has requested, he will die."

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Chief Justice Raymond Whelan said he would not be coming to a decision right away, but would file a written decision soon.

Court documents say the man's doctorwill not help the cancer patient die until the court grantsa Declaratory Orderstating that helping the cancer patientdie would not be illegal.

Rees believes thiscould be a landmark decision at a time when Canadian lawmakers are developing new legislation on physician-assisted dying.

He said his client is keeping tabs on what's happening. "Whenever I visit his room he usually has the Senate on [the CablePublic Affairs Channel]."

"I hope that between the Senate and the House of Commons, they listen to what the experts in this area have had to say about extending this right to the maximum number of people that you can while safeguarding individuals as well," Reessaid.

According to him, the declaration from the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador will likely be the first of its kind in Canada

Court documents filed Friday say the 66-year-old man who wants a doctor to help him end his lifeis in the last stages of prostate cancer.

Thosedocuments say the cancer patientwants to die at time of his own choosing in a way that minimizes his suffering.

"I am aware of the process of dying from cancer," says the applicant in an affidavit.

"I do not want to decline and slowly die with increasing symptoms and pain. I am happy with the life I have lived, and want control over the end of my life."

His application comes at a time when doctor-assisted dying legislation is evolving in Canada.

The applicant's lawyer says it's"difficult" for a person to decide to take their own life.

"Some individuals because of their medical circumstances they find them selves in a hospital room or whatever else," Rees said.

"They need assistance from others and they need comfort from others and I don't think my client should be precluded from getting that."

Timeline

On Feb. 6, 2015 the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the federal prohibition on physician-assisted dying. The ruling, known as the the Carter decision, allows individuals to ask a judge for a doctor-assisted death, while Ottawa fine-tuned its legislation.

The Carter v. Canada ruling established guidelines for determining who can access a physician-assisted death.

It also gave the federal government until February 2016 to prepare for the decriminalization of assisted dying.

That deadline was later extended to June 6, 2016.

On June 7, 2016 at 12:01 a.m. the deadline to pass an assisted-dying law expired.

The new legislation is before the Senate.

In the absence of new legislation, the Supreme Court's original ruling (Carter) became the law, which means doctors can't be prosecuted if they help a patient suffering from a "grievous and irremediable" illness to die.

The definition of a "grievous and irremediable" illness is unclear.

On June 9, 2016 Newfoundland and Labrador released a directive to prosecutors in the province.It states:

"The issuing of a Directive is necessary to assure those that deliver a physician-assisted death, or assist in delivering a physician-assisted death, that their actions will not be prosecuted, provided the physician-assisted death is within the parameters setby the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in Carter."

June 10, 2016 Justice Minister Andrew Parsons said the goal of the directive is to reassure physicians that they won't be charged with committing a crime if their patient's case falls within the criteria established by the Carter decision.

"The problem would be if a physician is unsure and maybe believes that they could be prosecuted then that may prevent them from providing this service which they are supposed to do," Parsons told CBC News.