Ontario Chief Coroner Dr. Dirk Huyer, pictured in a 2020 file photo, plans to reduce the membership and workload of the province's MAID review committee.Richard Lautens/The Canadian Press
Ontario’s coroner says he will recruit people from a range of disciplines to provide extra scrutiny of complex cases of people who have accessed medical help to die.
The Globe reported earlier this week that Ontario’s chief coroner, Dr. Dirk Huyer, was overhauling the province’s MAiD Death Review Committee to reduce the number of committee members, the frequency of their meetings and the number of cases they would review. The internal posting said it was seeking new members who would be “interested in supporting MAiD practice.”
Two former committee members, both of whom have been critical of elements of Canada’s expansion of MAID laws, say the language in the posting indicates the coroner is seeking to hear only from those who support current MAID practice and not those who would provide rigorous scrutiny.
In a statement to The Globe on Thursday, the coroner’s office said the new committee would include people with varied backgrounds and views.
“We continue to seek a range of experts who are interested in supporting improvements in MAiD practice,” the statement said.
“We are recruiting members from different professions and backgrounds who can offer expertise and/or experience including working with persons living with vulnerability and/or who are marginalized.”
MAID has been available in Canada since a Supreme Court decision in 2015 permitted assistance in dying to “competent adults who are suffering intolerably as a result of a grievous and irremediable medical condition.”
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In 2021, the law was expanded to those enduring intolerable suffering but not approaching their natural deaths. Canada has twice delayed further expanding eligibility for the procedure to those with mental illness alone.
Ontario’s MAiD Death Review Committee was the first of its kind to bring together experts from different fields to scrutinize and draw lessons from complex cases where MAID occurred.
Its reports highlighted difficult cases and sparked news stories underlining how the expansion of MAID has shifted the system into morally and legally ambiguous terrain.
An April 2 document from Dr. Huyer’s office, which The Globe obtained, shows the posting for the new committee differs in several points.
The new committee will have only six to eight members instead of 16. Members will meet five times a year, as opposed to an initial commitment to meet 10 times. The new meetings will last two to three hours, compared with the earlier commitment to meet for four to five. The new committee will review 20 deaths a year; the initial posting called for a review of 25 complex cases, although the coroner’s office said earlier this week only 14 were examined.
On Wednesday, Ontario Solicitor-General Michael Kerzner said he’s confident the new committee will “have a broad spectrum of views.”
“He’s restructuring the committee to make sure that it’s smaller, it’s more nimble and it represents a cross-section of views,” Mr. Kerzner said.
The Solicitor-General also said he was confident the new committee would “keep the transparency 100 per cent as high as possible.”
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In the statement, the coroner agreed, even though some reports in the past have led to negative headlines.
“Case reports are included to explain the rationale for recommendations and, at times, to support reflective, case‑based learning aimed at improving practice,” the statement said.
“These case studies are intended to support learning and system‑level improvements.”
Former committee member Trudo Lemmens, who has expressed concerns with MAID and Canada’s expansion of eligibility, has told The Globe he was informed his services are not required on the new committee.
Dr. Lemmens, who teaches law at the University of Toronto, wrote a sharply worded letter to Dr. Huyer on Monday objecting to the changes.
On Thursday, he said the coroner’s statement did not give him confidence that the voices of concern over Canada’s implementation of MAID would be heard.
“They [the coroner’s office] are finding new phrasings that sound more neutral but that reflect the same idea: ‘There are these people who are so critical of MAID practice that they cannot participate in case reviews and discussions of specific cases.’”