Quebec begins granting early requests for MAID without requested federal changes [Video]

Quebecers who want to arrange a medically assisted death before their condition leaves them unable to grant consent can do so as of next month, the province announced Saturday as it unveiled details of a plan to grant such requests without waiting for Ottawa to update the country’s criminal code.

Quebec’s government said last month it would stop waiting for the federal government to implement the requested amendments and forge ahead with plans to grant early MAID requests. On Saturday, the province announced such requests could be granted as of Oct. 30.

“The issue of advance requests for medical assistance in dying is widely agreed upon in Quebec,” Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette said in a press release.

Seniors Minister Sonia Belanger called the province a leader in upholding “patients’ right to die with dignity.”

The government said it has asked the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions to respect the …