The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) has recommended that the Government of Canada permanently pause the impending expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for persons with mental health conditions as sole underlying conditions.
It is encouraging to see that the voices of many experts and professionals who live and work with the realities of Canada’s MAiD regime were listened to, and that this group of Members of Parliament have recognized their role and responsibility in protecting our most vulnerable members of society.
We call on the federal government to quickly introduce legislation that will enact this recommendation into law, thereby protecting Canadians who live with mental illnesses. Parliamentary committees should continue to investigate MAiD in a transparent and publicly accountable way, particularly with regard to the impacts MAiD has had on vulnerable Canadians, as has been continually attested to by disability advocacy organizations and demonstrated through reviews of data.
- Rebecca Vachon, PhD, Health Program Director at Cardus
For a more detailed discussion of the challenges associated with MAiD eligibility, please see:
- Research Brief: An International Comparison of Assisted Dying Regimes
- Memo: Submission to AMAD Committee on Permanently Pausing the Expansion of MAiD for Mental Disorders
- Memo: Considerations for Bill C-218 on Permanently Pausing the Expansion of MAiD for Mental Disorders
- Research Report: Disability and MAiD
- Research Report: In Contrast to Carter
MEDIA INQUIRIES
Phil Gaudreau
Cardus – Director of Media and Public Relations
613-241-4500 x508
pgaudreau@cardus.ca
Cardus – Imagination toward a thriving society
Cardus is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to clarifying and strengthening, through research and dialogue, the ways in which society’s institutions can work together for the common good.