Speech (committee meeting)

{
    "time": "2026-03-26 09:40:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Nathalie Levman (Senior Counsel, Criminal Law Policy Section, Department of Justice)",
        "fr": "Nathalie Levman (avocate-conseil, Section de la politique en mati\u00e8re de droit p\u00e9nal, minist\u00e8re de la Justice)"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"9256200\" data-originallang=\"en\"> Thank you very much for the question.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256201\" data-originallang=\"en\">Yes, we would like to address what we view as some misunderstandings of the impact and scope of Bill <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S-228</a>.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256202\" data-originallang=\"en\">We'd like to stress that the bill would not create a new offence. The \u201cfor greater certainty\u201d clause, as my colleague explained, merely confirms or clarifies the application of existing law.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256203\" data-originallang=\"en\">We would also like to stress that criminal liability for non-consensual medical procedures requires both that the medical procedure took place without the person's consent and that the person who performed the procedure, or took part in it, knew that the patient was not consenting or that the person performing or taking part in it was reckless as to the lack of consent.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256204\" data-originallang=\"en\">Situations in which a person gives valid consent and then later regrets it, after the procedure, would not be caught by the criminal law, either now or under Bill <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S-228</a>, because Bill S-228 does not change the scope or application of the criminal law.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256205\" data-originallang=\"en\">Therefore, we really want to reassure committee members and stakeholders, as criminal lawyers who are responsible for these provisions in the code from both a legal and a policy perspective, that Bill <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S-228</a> would not change the criminal law framework governing non-consensual medical procedures. This includes the fact that section 45 would continue to operate and that the consent framework, as my colleague has described it, would also continue to operate.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256206\" data-originallang=\"en\"> I'd also like to stress that the concerns we heard during the first hour were in fact taken into account in the redrafting of former Bill <a data-HoCid=\"11875208\" href=\"/bills/44-1/S-250/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S-250</a>. You'll recall that Bill S-250, as amended, is Bill <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S-228</a>, the very bill you're considering. All of these concerns were taken very seriously, I believe, and factored into the current formulation of the bill.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256207\" data-originallang=\"en\">If you'll give me permission, I would like to quote Dr. Wilson, who appeared before you on Tuesday, because we agree with what he said. He said, \u201cAs an obstetrician-gynecologist...if this bill passes, I won't be changing my practice, because there's nothing for me to change if I'm not engaging in forced and coerced sterilization.\u201d He also said, \u201cWe don't really have anything to worry about in the way this bill is written if we're not engaging in those coercive practices.\u201d</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256208\" data-originallang=\"en\">I stress what my colleague informed you of in her opening remarks, that complying with provincial and territorial health laws, which require the securing of informed consent prior to every single medical procedure, immunizes all medical professionals from criminal liability, both under existing criminal law and under Bill <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S-228</a>, which does not change existing criminal law. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256209\" data-originallang=\"en\">I hope this helps the committee.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"9256200\" data-originallang=\"en\">Je vous remercie beaucoup de poser la question.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256201\" data-originallang=\"en\">Oui, nous aimerions revenir sur ce qui constitue, selon nous, des malentendus au sujet de l'incidence et de la port\u00e9e du projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S\u2011228</a>.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256202\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous tenons \u00e0 souligner que le projet de loi ne cr\u00e9erait pas de nouvelle infraction. Comme ma coll\u00e8gue l'a expliqu\u00e9, la disposition de pr\u00e9cision \u2014 celle qui contient les mots \u00ab il est entendu \u00bb \u2014 ne fait que confirmer ou clarifier l'application du droit existant.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256203\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous souhaitons \u00e9galement rappeler que la responsabilit\u00e9 criminelle en cas d'acte m\u00e9dical non consenti exige, d'une part, que l'intervention m\u00e9dicale ait eu lieu sans le consentement du patient et, d'autre part, que la personne l'ayant pratiqu\u00e9e \u2014 ou y ayant particip\u00e9 \u2014 \u00e9tait au courant de l'absence de consentement de la part du patient ou ne s'en souciait pas. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256204\" data-originallang=\"en\">Les situations o\u00f9 une personne donne un consentement valide, puis \u00e9prouve des regrets apr\u00e8s l'intervention, ne seraient pas vis\u00e9es par le droit p\u00e9nal \u2014 que ce soit dans le cadre juridique actuel ou aux termes du projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S\u2011228</a> \u2014, parce que le projet de loi ne modifie ni la port\u00e9e ni l'application du droit p\u00e9nal.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256205\" data-originallang=\"en\">Par cons\u00e9quent, en tant que juristes responsables de ces dispositions du Code, tant sur le plan juridique que sur le plan strat\u00e9gique, nous tenons \u00e0 rassurer les membres du Comit\u00e9 et les parties prenantes: le projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S\u2011228</a> ne modifierait pas le cadre du droit p\u00e9nal applicable aux actes m\u00e9dicaux non consentis. Ainsi, l'article 45 continuerait de s'appliquer, tout comme le r\u00e9gime de consentement que ma coll\u00e8gue a d\u00e9crit.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256206\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'aimerais \u00e9galement souligner que les pr\u00e9occupations que nous avons entendues au cours de la premi\u00e8re heure ont bel et bien \u00e9t\u00e9 prises en compte dans la reformulation de l'ancien projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"11875208\" href=\"/bills/44-1/S-250/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S\u2011250</a>. Vous vous souviendrez que le projet de loi S\u2011250, tel que modifi\u00e9, est devenu le projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S\u2011228</a>, dont vous \u00eates saisis en ce moment. Toutes ces pr\u00e9occupations ont \u00e9t\u00e9 prises tr\u00e8s au s\u00e9rieux, \u00e0 mon avis, et elles ont \u00e9t\u00e9 int\u00e9gr\u00e9es dans le libell\u00e9 actuel du projet de loi.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256207\" data-originallang=\"en\">Si vous me le permettez, j'aimerais citer le Dr Wilson, qui a comparu devant vous mardi, parce que nous sommes d'accord avec lui. Il a dit: \u00ab Si ce projet de loi est adopt\u00e9, en tant que gyn\u00e9cologue-obst\u00e9tricien en exercice, je ne changerai pas ma pratique, car je n'ai rien \u00e0 changer si je ne pratique pas de st\u00e9rilisation forc\u00e9e ou contrainte. \u00bb Il a ajout\u00e9: \u00ab Nous n'avons pas vraiment \u00e0 nous inqui\u00e9ter de la fa\u00e7on dont ce projet de loi est r\u00e9dig\u00e9 si nous ne nous livrons pas \u00e0 ces pratiques coercitives. \u00bb</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256208\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'insiste sur ce que ma coll\u00e8gue vous a dit dans sa d\u00e9claration pr\u00e9liminaire: le respect des lois provinciales et territoriales en mati\u00e8re de sant\u00e9, lesquelles exigent l'obtention d'un consentement \u00e9clair\u00e9 avant chaque acte m\u00e9dical, prot\u00e8ge l'ensemble des professionnels de la sant\u00e9 contre toute responsabilit\u00e9 criminelle, tant au sens du droit p\u00e9nal actuel qu'aux termes du projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"13548203\" href=\"/bills/45-1/S-228/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Criminal Code (sterilization procedures)\">S\u2011228</a>, qui n'en modifie aucun aspect.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"9256209\" data-originallang=\"en\">J'esp\u00e8re que ces pr\u00e9cisions seront utiles aux membres du Comit\u00e9.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/committees/indigenous-affairs/45-1/27/nathalie-levman-1/",
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    "politician_membership_url": null,
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "13423345",
    "document_url": "/committees/indigenous-affairs/45-1/27/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fcommittees%2Findigenous-affairs%2F45-1%2F27%2F"
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}