Prime Minister Mark Carney says he's expecting the parliamentary committee to issue its report on the expansion of MAID in the coming weeks.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Mark Carney said he is not taking a public position on expanding access to medical assistance in dying to include people whose only condition is mental illness until a parliamentary committee studying the matter makes its recommendations.
The Prime Minister made his remarks after The Globe and Mail reported, based on three sources, that his government is anticipating the committee will recommend delaying the expansion of MAID, and that the government will follow that advice. A temporary pause on that expansion is due to expire in March.
The prospect of the delay was met with relief by those who have argued that allowing MAID for mental illness could cause significant harm to people who, by the very nature of their illness, may wish to end their lives but could be helped by medical intervention.
However, those who see expansion as being in line with a Supreme Court ruling that enshrined access to MAID as a Charter right reiterated concerns that the committee’s study hasn’t sufficiently considered their points of view or the experiences of those with mental illness.
The debate over the expansion has emerged as one of the most contentious issues around MAID since it was legalized by the Supreme Court nearly 10 years ago.
Ottawa prepared to halt plan to allow MAID for mental illness
Mr. Carney has personally been under pressure to delay the expansion, with some religious leaders directly citing the Prime Minister’s Catholic faith in urging him to postpone.
On Wednesday, a Globe reporter asked Mr. Carney what his personal position is on medical assistance in dying.
On his way into a Liberal caucus meeting, he responded by citing the continuing study.
“I’m waiting to see the report of the interparliamentary committee,” Mr. Carney said. “I haven’t received any briefings specifically on it.”
The committee heard from its final witnesses late Tuesday and is now drafting its report and recommendations, which are expected in June.
Toronto psychiatrist Sonu Gaind, past president of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and chair of the Expert Advisory Group on MAID and Mental Illness, said he is hopeful that the committee makes a fair recommendation and recognizes that “we are not ready to proceed with this.”
Toronto woman with bipolar disorder asks Ontario court to grant her emergency MAID access
Dr. Gaind said some have tried to assure politicians that “this can be done safely, but they are recognizing that those assurances are hollow.”
The government opened up MAID to people who were not facing imminent death in 2021.
The legislation temporarily excluded access to MAID solely for mental illness over concerns that the health care system was not prepared to address the complexities associated with determining that a patient should qualify under those circumstances.
The exclusion was extended twice, with the government both times saying the system was not yet ready.
Helen Long, chief executive of Dying with Dignity, said in a Wednesday interview that her organization was disappointed to learn through The Globe’s reporting that the government is prepared to delay.
Her group believes Canada is ready to move ahead based on what it has heard from MAID regulators and clinicians.
Psychiatry chairs at medical schools oppose expanding MAID for mental illness
Ms. Long said she believes that the committee should have heard directly from patients looking to access MAID because of their lived experience with mental illness.
She said a disproportionate number of witnesses appeared who oppose MAID in this area.
“I think there has always been concern that this process could result in a further delay,” she said. “We started a legal challenge two years ago for a reason.”
In August, 2024, Dying with Dignity and Claire Brosseau, a patient living with Bipolar 1, a form of bipolar disorder, filed a lawsuit against the federal government for continuing to bar patients whose sole underlying condition is mental illness from ending their lives with medical assistance.
The issue is still before the courts.
Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who sits on the parliamentary committee, said the issues that prompted the government to delay the expansion in 2024 remain unresolved.
Ontario nurses to receive new MAID guidance before patients with mental illness can access it
He cited the question of whether mental illness is truly irremediable and the challenge of distinguishing between someone who is motivated by suicidal ideation or is making a legitimate request for MAID.
“I think the proper course of action to take in the circumstances is for the government to come back with a bill to indefinitely put a pause on this planned expansion,” he said.
The committee has been studying the issue since March and heard from 38 witnesses.
Among them was Ramona Coelho, a family physician from London, Ont., and former member of Ontario’s Medical Assistance in Dying Review Committee. It was established in January, 2024, by the Office of the Chief Coroner to independently review MAID deaths.
“I’m very pleased that the federal government is finally starting to recognize that there are major safety issues with MAID and that they may halt its expansion to mental illness,” she said of the potential for a delay.
Though the committee has until Oct. 2 to table its recommendations, it is working to get the report completed before Parliament breaks for the summer.
That would give the government enough time to draft a bill and get it before the House of Commons in the fall.
Both Liberal and Conservative MPs on the committee said Wednesday that they do think there will be a degree of consensus on the delay, though some senators may disagree.
Any bill introduced by the government will have to pass through the Senate.
University of Toronto law professor Trudo Lemmens said he is concerned that there will be an attempt to mobilize the Senate to block any law that comes out of the House based on claims about Charter rights.
“Senators,” he said, “ignore the fact that Charter rights require careful balancing, nuance and a recognition of context.”