The territory has established its interim guidelines for people seeking physician-assisted death.

In its landmark ruling more an a year ago, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that the national ban on physician-assisted death would be lifted.

The top court gave the federal government one year to draft legislation, but last October’s election delayed the process.

Last month, the government was given a four-month extension, making the final deadline for draft legislation June 6.

But during this period of limbo, those seeking physician-assisted death can apply to the superior court in their home provinces for an exception if they meet certain criteria.

The Yukon Medical Council published its set of guidelines last month, though nothing has been legislated yet.

“The debate is over,” Dr. Robert Zimmerman, the chair of the Yukon Medical Council, told the Star in a recent interview.

“This is a right individuals have – given that, legislators have to design a system that makes it available to people. That’s the bottom line.”

It will start with a patient’s request.

From there, it is suggested that a period of reflection take place.

This could vary based on the urgency of the patient’s circumstances, but 14 days are recommended for patients with slowly progressing conditions.

“Most of the guidelines are reflective of this compromise, that there’s some time for sober thought while also not dragging it out,” Zimmerman said.

If, after reflection, the patient wishes to proceed, several things will have to be established.

Firstly, the physician is obligated to review all aspects of assisted death with patients, reminding them that they can take back their request at any time as well as offer other treatment options, including hospice care and pain control.

Two doctors must also determine whether the patient has the full capacity to make informed decisions and whether the patient’s condition is considered “grievous and irremediable” – in other words, impossible to cure or put right.

By requiring the patient to be of “sound mind”, it subsequently eliminates the possibility of family members making the decision for a patient who is incapacitated.

If this passes, the person would be eligible for physician-assisted death.

Within the guidelines, physicians may decline to provide assisted death if doing so would violate their freedom of conscience.

It is unclear exactly what would happen in the event that a patient disagrees with his or her physician’s ruling – the guideline simply states “other resources may assist in resolving differences”, citing a conflict resolution process as an example.

Another grey area is mental health.

The Yukon guidelines identify that chronic depression or other mental illness could be “grievous and irremediable.”

But a report released this week by a committee of MPs and senators stated that “widely diverging views” were heard on the topic of addressing mental health in the context of assisted death.

The committee also called for allowing mature minors to access assisted death.

But until legislation comes into force, all of these considerations are just that – suggestions.

“Right now we’re in this middle ground,” Zimmerman said.

“No physician can act yet, unless there was a court order.”

So far, nobody has applied to the Supreme Court of Yukon, said Dan Cable, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice.

Even when the federal legislation takes shape, there still may not be many people seeking assisted death.

“I think there’s a misconception that there will be a tidal wave of people requesting this,” Zimmerman said.

He wondered this at one point, and found an example that put things in perspective.

In Oregon, where assisted death has been legal since 1997, there had been a total of 859 assisted deaths as of 2014.

The numbers have risen over the 19 years since the law was passed, with the largest being 105 deaths in 2014.

Keeping in mind the state’s population of nearly four million people, the number of deaths accounts for approximately 0.02 per cent of the population.

This percentage of the Yukon’s population would account for seven individuals over the span of 17 years.

“You could say that, perhaps, the most on average would be two cases per year. It’s certainly not going to be in the 10s or 20s,” Zimmerman said.

In the meantime, the Yukon government is waiting for the Criminal Code changes to be adopted before embarking on establishing Yukon-specific legislation for assisted dying.

“There is a Yukon working group that is currently planning how we will implement this once the four-month reprieve is over,” said Pat Living, a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Services.

Within the working group are officials from the Health and Justice departments, Council of Yukon First Nations, Yukon Medical Council, Yukon Registered Nurses Association, Yukon Medical Association and the Yukon Hospital Corp.

Their first meeting was in August 2015, and there have been three more gatherings since then.

Living said that so far, no decisions have been made on how it will be implemented.

In addition, it is undecided as to whether assisted dying will be covered in the territory’s health care plan.

One thing that has been decided is that there will be no public consultation nor open forums to the public on the matter, according to another spokesperson at the department.

“There’s a lot of debate over how it should be provided initially. The thing is, this is a process you want to get right,” Zimmerman said.

“You want to err on the side of caution and safety for everyone. One of the errors could be rushing.”