Ottawa to indefinitely extend MAID exclusion for people solely suffering from mental illness

Ottawa to indefinitely extend MAID exclusion for people solely suffering from mental illness

Justice minister says legislation will be introduced this fall

The federal government will introduce legislation this fall that will indefinitely extend the ban on access to a medically assisted death for people who are only suffering from a mental illness, Justice Minister Sean Fraser said on Wednesday.

"Canada has made a decision not to move forward with the expansion that is scheduled in the Criminal Code of medical assistance in dying in circumstances where mental illness is the sole basis," he said in the foyer of the House of Commons.

Fraser said the government's decision reflects the position expressed by a special parliamentary committee report released in June along with his own department's probing of the issue.

"While there is not a perfect consensus on this issue, we believe this is the correct approach at this particular time," he said.

Why the debate about MAID for mental illness still rages

Government to reveal next steps for medically assisted dying

Fraser said the promised legislation will also "open the door" for people to give advance consent for their own medically assisted death in circumstances where the illness they are suffering from will eventually eliminate their capacity to make that decision.

The minister explained that while the details of advance consent will be worked out in House of Commons committees, it will require a person's illness to be incurable and result in intolerable suffering.

2 key reasons for MAID exclusion

Fraser said there are two significant points motivating his government to indefinitely extend the current prohibition on receiving MAID for people who only have a mental illness.

He said there are "very real concerns about people who live in communities with inadequate access to mental health services."

The second reason was the lack of consensus over when a mental illness is incurable, along with other issues raised in the June report.

MAID should 'indefinitely exclude' people with mental illness, review urges

The government passed MAID legislation in 2016. But the Superior Court of Quebec struck the law down in 2019 because it was limited to those whose deaths were "reasonably foreseeable."

Bill C-7, which passed Parliament in March 2021, removed that requirement, in line with the court's ruling. The legislation also temporarily pushed back the expansion of MAID to cases involving only mental illness to March 2023.

That was further delayed to 2024 and again to March 2027.

Fraser says Conservative bill isn't enough

Fraser said that he was announcing the legislation before it was ready, in part, to explain why his government will not be voting for a Conservative private member's bill, C-218, which is up for a vote in the House later in the day.

Fraser thanked Conservative MP Tamara Jansen for introducing the bill but said it fell short in two areas. The first area was the bill's use of the term "mental disorders," which the minister said could be interpreted to include neurologically degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's.

He also pointed to the fact that C-218 does not address advance consent.

If you or someone you know is struggling, here's where to look for help:

Peter Zimonjic is a senior writer for CBC News who reports for digital, radio and television. He has worked as a reporter and columnist in London, England, for the Telegraph, Times and Daily Mail, and in Canada for the Ottawa Citizen, Torstar and Sun Media. He is the author of Into The Darkness: An Account of 7/7, published by Vintage.