The British Columbia Supreme Court struck down the laws banning doctor-assisted suicides Friday, calling them unconstitutional and discriminatory.
The court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs who argued that the ban infringed on patients' charter rights, bringing to a close a months-long trial that reignited the national debate on assisted suicides.
While B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lynn Smith declared the physician-assisted suicide ban invalid, she suspended her ruling for one year to give Parliament time to draft legislation in accordance with her ruling.
However, Smith ruled that one of the plaintiffs, Gloria Taylor, will be given an exemption so she can seek an assisted suicide within the year.
Taylor, a 64-year-old grandmother who suffers from ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, became involved in the lawsuit in 2011, when her symptoms worsened. As a result of her illness, she is confined to a wheelchair and requires a feeding tube.
In a 395-page ruling, Smith said the provisions in the Charter of Rights infringe on Taylor's rights to life, liberty and security of persons.
Smith also said the laws are discriminatory for those who are grievously ill or physically disabled and want to have some control over their circumstances at the end of their lives.
Smith said that while she recognized that risks do exist in allowing doctor-assisted suicide, they can be avoided through carefully designed and vigorously monitored safeguards.
"I'm deeply grateful to have the comfort of knowing that I will have a choice at the end of my life," Taylor said in a statement issued through her lawyer.
"This is a blessing for me. . . It allows me to approach my death in the same way I've tried to live my life, with dignity, independence and grace."
If Taylor chooses to use her constitutional exemption and end her life, she must abide by several rules Smith laid out in her ruling.
Taylor will have to provide a written request and her doctor will have to attest that she is terminally ill and near death. The medication that the attending physician plans to use for her suicide also must be fully documented.
"It's obviously a very profound decision she has to make, and whether she makes it or when she makes it, is entirely up to Gloria," Taylor's lawyer, Joe Arvay, told reporters Friday.
Sukanya Pillay of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association told 麻豆影视 Channel Friday that Smith's ruling protects "a sphere of autonomy around very personal decisions that relate to those who are grievously ill."
"The key to all this will be the legal safeguards that will be put into place," she said.
But a doctor with the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition called the ruling alarming and said an appeal is expected.
"We would caution Canadians to be skeptical that they can achieve greater choice and greater autonomy at the end of their lives, or at any other time of their lives, by giving power and constitutional protection to those who would arrange your suicide or your death," Dr. Will Johnston said at a news conference outside the courthouse.
"We think that this is naive."
Friday's ruling goes against the landmark 1993 Sue Rodriguez case.
In that case, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled against Rodriguez and her fight to legalize assisted suicide.
The B.C. challenge was launched by several different plaintiffs, including the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
Throughout the trial, Arvay argued that evidence showed that people who desired an assisted death were already seeking illegal help to get it.
He likened the process to back-alley abortions that occurred in Canada before the laws banning abortion were struck down in 1988.
But lawyers representing the federal government argued that overturning the ban would put the elderly, depressed and disabled at risk.
Donnaree Nygard, a lawyer for the government, told the court that while personal accounts were emotionally moving, striking down the law would pose immense risks to these vulnerable groups.
But Pillay said being able to seek assisted suicide actually empowers the sick and the elderly, who may otherwise be taken advantage of in their frail state.
CTV Legal Analyst Steven Skurka told 麻豆影视 Channel on Friday that other countries' experiences would show that assisted suicide can be practiced without endangering at-risk groups. Assisted suicide is currently practiced in the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland.
Skurka also predicted that the case will eventually reach the nation's highest court.
"It has such national importance it has to go the Supreme Court of Canada. The losing side will inevitably appeal," he said.
With a report from CTV's British Columbia Bureau Chief Sarah Galashan and files from The Canadian Press
