Law Commission of Ontario Report on Last Stages of Life for Indigenous People

The Law Commission of Ontario has published a report on the Last Stages of Life for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Peoples: Preliminary Recommendations for Law Reform.

The document examines the issues surrounding quality of life for Indigenous persons in Ontario who are dying and those who support them.

For the purposes of the project, the Commission considers the term "Indigenous" to include First Nation, Métis and Inuit, and status and non-status and urban Indigenous populations.

The report advocates for:

• The need to reconceive health care consent, capacity, and substitute decision-making;
• Facilitating traditional practices governing death in the home and natural burials;
• Measuring health care performance with Indigenous practices and values;
• Better supporting Indigenous health professionals, family members, and caregivers in community; and,
• Access to Indigenous hospices in community.