A private member’s bill to halt the expansion of Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) regime to those whose only medical condition is mental illness is expected to be voted on in the House of Commons on Oct. 18.
During Question Period on Oct. 5, Mr. Fast said his bill would reverse the “terrible decision” to expand MAiD to those with mental illnesses, while not repealing other provisions of Canada’s assisted dying laws. He cited a poll by Angus Reid that found just 28 percent of Canadians favoured expanding the country’s MAiD laws to the mentally ill, as well as a recent letter from the heads of 17 Canadian psychiatry schools that were against the law’s expansion.
“Stakeholders have deplored the lack of social and economic supports for persons with mental illness and how this can lead people to consider MAiD,” Mr. Fast said, adding that the Canadian government had not fulfilled its promise to deliver dedicated mental health and palliative care funding to the provinces.
MAiD Expansion
In March 2021, Parliament passed Bill C-7, which amended the Criminal Code to allow MAiD for Canadians whose natural death is not “reasonably foreseeable.” The bill included several safety guards, such as a minimum 90-day assessment period, a second eligibility assessment by a practitioner with expertise in the condition causing the person’s suffering, and two clarifications of informed consent.Criticism
Canada’s MAiD regime came under controversy back in 2022, after several Canadian Armed Forces veterans claimed that they had been offered the procedure unprovoked. A veteran seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury told Global News that he was offered MAiD by a Veterans Affairs worker.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident “absolutely unacceptable” and said the federal government would be following up with investigations into the department. A spokesperson for then-Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay said they were taking the issue “very seriously,” and that providing advice on MAID is “not a VAC service.”
Several Conservative MPs, including leader Pierre Poilievre, have heavily criticized the proposed expansion of medically assisted dying.
During a press conference on March 6 announcing the imminent introduction of a bill to stop the expansion of MAiD, Mr. Poilievre said the job of the federal government was to “turn their hurt back into hope. To treat mental illness problems rather than ending people’s lives.”
At the same press conference, Mr. Fast told reporters that vulnerable people should be offered mental health support instead of assisted suicide. “It is deeply concerning that this government appears to be moving from a culture of life to a culture of death,” he added.