Daily BrewLandmark B.C. assisted suicide appeal adjourned due to lawyer’s illness
A high-profile test of Canada's assisted-suicide law was adjourned Monday because the federal government's lead counsel was seriously ill, according to the Toronto Star.
Ottawa is appealing last year's B.C. Supreme Court that ruled Gloria Taylor of Westbank, B.C., had the right to physician-assisted suicide and the law making it illegal violated her Charter rights to liberty and security of the person.
Taylor, who suffered from ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease, died last October from an infection but the case has proceeded and is expected to end up in the Supreme Court of Canada.
In an unprecedented move, the B.C. Appeal Court, recognizing the case could take years to resolve, exempted Taylor from the law, which would have allowed her to obtain an assisted suicide before a final court decision.
[ Related: B.C. court rules woman at centre of right-to-die case can still have assisted suicide ]
A hearing was scheduled to begin Monday in the B.C. Court of Appeal but the Star reported Donnaree Hygard, who was slated to give the opening statement for the Attorney General of Canada, was sick.
“She became quite ill and her condition, while it is serious at the moment, is expected to be short term,” associate counsel Cheryl Tobias, told the Appeal Court judges.
The case is being closely watched because its the first major test of the law against assisted suicide since an unsuccessful challenge by Victoria resident Sue Rodriguez. She also suffered from ALS, a neurological illness that slowly imprisons sufferers in their bodies.
The Supreme Court of Canada in 1993 narrowly rejected her bid for assisted suicide but Rodriguez found a doctor to help her anyway.
The Taylor case, is also making history in another way. It's the first time the Appeal Court is allowing a camera into the courtroom to stream a hearing in the Internet.
Unlike their American counterparts, Canadian courts have been leery of allowing in cameras, concerned the practice may tempt lawyers to grandstand and could spook witness and crime victims.
“The Court of Appeal recognizes that open courtrooms are critical to maintaining public confidence in the judicial process and the rule of law,” Chief Justice Lance Finch said in an email statement about the pilot project, according to the Vancouver Province.
“In the Court of Appeal the absence of juries and live witnesses creates an environment that may be more conducive to live webcasting in certain cases.”
In 2011, the B.C. Supreme Court allowed a camera to webcast final arguments in a test of Canada's polygamy law.
While other courts have shown proceedings occasionally, only the Supreme Court of Canada routinely records its hearings on video. A live feed is provided to the parliamentary press gallery and hearings can be broadcast on the Canadian Public Affairs Channel (CPAC).
[ More Brew: Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet's humble answer on desire to be pope ]
The Taylor case has been adjourned to March 18. She was joined in her challenge by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and three other plaintiffs.
The federal government's defence of the law against assisted suicide is being supported by the B.C. government, while several groups on both sides of the issue have standing as intervenors.
