Section 241.31 — Criminal Code: Filing information — practitioners

Unless they are exempted under regulations made under subsection (3), a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who carries out an assessment of whether a person meets the criteria set out in subsection 241.2(1) or who receives a written request for medical assistance in dying must, in accordance with those regulations, provide the information required by those regulations to the recipient designated in those regulations. Unless they are exempted under regulations made under subsection (3), any person who has the responsibility to carry out preliminary assessments of whether a person meets the criteria set out in subsection 241.2(1) must, in accordance with those regulations, provide the information required by those regulations to the recipient designated in those regulations. Unless they are exempted under regulations made under subsection (3), a pharmacist who dispenses a substance in connection with the provision of medical assistance in dying, or the person permitted to act as a pharmacy technician under the laws of a province who dispenses a substance to aid a medical practitioner or nurse practitioner in providing a person with medical assistance in dying, must, in accordance with those regulations, provide the information required by those regulations to the recipient designated in those regulations. The Minister of Health must make regulations that he or she considers necessary respecting the provision and collection, for the purpose of monitoring medical assistance in dying, of information relating to requests for, and the provision of, medical assistance in dying, including the information to be provided, at various stages, by medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, persons referred to in subsection (1.1) who have the responsibility to carry out preliminary assessments, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, or by a class of any of them, including the elements considered in the course of the assessments — preliminary or otherwise —

of whether a person meets the criteria set out in subsection 241.2(1), information respecting the race or indigenous identity of a person who requests or receives medical assistance in dying, if the person consents to providing this information, and information — other than information that must be provided in relation to the assessment of eligibility to receive medical assistance in dying and the application of safeguards — respecting any disability , as defined in section 2 of the Accessible Canada Act , of a person who requests or receives medical assistance in dying, if the person consents to providing that information, the form, manner and time in which the information must be provided, the designation of a person as the recipient of the information, and the collection of information from coroners and medical examiners; respecting the use, analysis and interpretation of that information, including for the purposes of determining the presence of any inequality — including systemic inequality —

or disadvantage based on race, Indigenous identity, disability or other characteristics, in medical assistance in dying; respecting the protection, publication, and disclosure of that information; respecting the disposal of that information; and exempting, on any terms that may be specified, a class of persons from the requirements set out in subsections (1) to (2). The Minister of Health, after consultation with representatives of the provincial governments responsible for health, must establish guidelines on the information to be included on death certificates in cases where medical assistance in dying has been provided, which may include the way in which to clearly identify medical assist­ance in dying as the manner of death, as well as the illness, disease or disability that prompted the request for medical assistance in dying. A medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who knowingly fails to comply with subsection (1), a person having the responsibility to carry out preliminary assessments who knowingly fails to comply with subsection (1.1) or a pharmacist or pharmacy technician who knowingly fails to comply with subsection (2), is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than two years; or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction. Everyone who knowingly contravenes the regulations made under subsection (3) is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to a term of imprisonment of not more than two years; or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction. In performing his or her functions or duties under subsection (3), the Minister of Health must, when appropriate, consult with the minister responsible for the status of persons with disabilities.