FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2023

The one-year delay in the expansion of medically assisted suicide is a positive step, but falls well short of working towards a truly flourishing society. Instead of expansion, the federal government should adopt three key priorities:

• Making palliative care universally available to all Canadians and ensuring the doctors and nurses are trained to provide it
• Committing to helping people live with dignity, so that no one seeks medically assisted suicide because of a lack of housing, insufficient income, or inadequate support for physical disabilities or mental illness
• Reducing social isolation and loneliness by working with charities, faith communities, and other parts of civil society who can help desperate and vulnerable people in ways bureaucracies cannot

– Ray Pennings, executive vice-president of think tank Cardus