Health Minister Glen Abernethy on physician-assisted dying in the N.W.T.

With the federal government preparing to change the law banning physician-assisted suicide, provincial and territorial governments are starting to look at what that might mean in their regions.

Last February, the Supreme Court of Canada said it was unconstitutional for the federal government to ban physician-assisted death and is giving Ottawa until June to pass a new law.

Earlier this week, a physician and a prominent elder both agreed the Northwest Territories isn't ready for physician-assisted dying.

• 'We're not ready at all:' Doctors, elders say N.W.T. is unprepared to manage assisted dying

On Tuesday, The Trailbreaker caught up with Health Minister Glen Abernethy to find out what the new rules could mean for the N.W.T.

The following interview has been edited and condensed.

Q. What will happen if once this law has changed, someone walks into the health centre in Lutselk'e or Tuktoyaktuk and says they want to die with the help of a doctor?

The bottom line is we don't know all of the answers yet. We are currently going through a process where we are consulting with Northerners. We're also looking at reports that are being done by the advisory committee that was put together in Ontario, which we did participate in. We really need to know what the federal legislation's going to look like, but in the meantime, we continue to move forward with our research consultation and design.

Q. On the health department's website it says consultation with Northerners is important because some of the federal recommendations may not account for the territory's unique geography and culture. What are the issues from your perspective when it comes, first, to our geography?

I've had an opportunity to have these discussions at the provincial/territorial level. Every time we have this conversation I stress to them the unique realities we face here in the N.W.T. Our model includes using community health nurses in many of our communities, so we have some different aspects than some other jurisdictions, but at the end of the day, come June, this is going to be the law of Canada and we have to a find a way to provide this service when individuals request it.

Q. What about culturally?

The vast majority of the territory 53 per cent is aboriginal. And we've heard from some people, including churches. Let's not forget that there's some individuals have some religious objection to this. We need to make sure that we work with those groups to make them understand that this is the law of Canada, but we're trying to find a way to be respectful and to protect vulnerable populations.

At the end of the day, nobody's going to be required to support assisted dying and nobody's going to be required to utilize assisted dying.

Q. Let's talk about the report from the experts' panel. What have we gotten out of that that does shed some light on the North?

It does help set some parameters. It does also raise a number of questions that need to be asked. We are hoping the federal legislation might answer some of these questions, which includes how old an individual has to be [to request assisted death]. But until we actually see the legislation from the federal government, there are some limitations on how we can move forward.

This is a hard question and it's going to be difficult for many people, but at the end of the day, this is going tobe the law of Canada and we need to be able to provide this service in a respectful way. We want to focus on palliative care. We want to focus on other options for individuals. But this is one that some people will choose.

Q. A lot is being focused on palliative care. Can you tell us more about that?

In the N.W.T., we're trying to expand our ability to provide palliative services in the communities. We're looking at providing additional training;we have been providing additional training. There's equipment in the community health centres that we can loan to families who wish to support someone who's dying in their home. We're trying to find ways to be more compassionate and have people die closer to their home, but we do know there will be some individuals who will still want to use this service, which is now going to be legal in Canada.

Q. What are you hoping to hear from Northerners?

We're hoping to hear from Northernershow we might be able to facilitate this without requiring people who have a religious objection to providing the service. We won't require individuals who are morally or religiously opposed to providing this service, but we're looking for input on how to provide this in a meaningful way without putting vulnerable people at risk.

Q. Is there a chance that June arrives and we haven't figured this out?

I'm confident we'll have some interim measures in place by June, but as I said, until we actually know what the legislation looks like, it's impossible to have a fully concluded process here. Once we have all that feedback we're going to put together a steering committee and start developing our interim guidelines and procedures. We're intending to have that done by June, but we also know the legislation is going to come in that might modify some of our guidelines. That will take some time.