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
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he is waiting for the recommendations of a parliamentary committee before taking a position on whether access to medical assistance in dying should be expanded for those with mental illness.
Mr. Carney, who has not spoken publicly about his point of view on MAID, made the remarks Wednesday on his way into the Liberal caucus meeting.
The Globe and Mail has reported that the government is prepared to table legislation to delay the expansion of MAID, if that is what the joint House of Commons and Senate committee ultimately recommends.
The potential for expanded access has emerged as one of the most contentious policy debates since MAID was legalized a decade ago.
It is set to go into effect in March, but the Carney government is under sustained pressure to either further delay it or put it on pause altogether.
The committee has been studying the issue since March, and has heard from 38 witnesses, including physicians, researchers and advocates both for and against the expansion.
Mr. Carney said he believes the report is due in a few weeks.
“I’m waiting to see the report of the interparliamentary committee,” Mr. Carney said. “I haven’t received any briefings specifically on it.”
When asked what his position on the issue was as a whole, Mr. Carney responded he likes to take informed positions and will wait.
The government opened up MAID to people who were not facing imminent death in 2021, but the legislation carved out a temporary exclusion for mental illness.
This meant people without physical ailments were still unable to qualify for assisted death.
That exemption was extended twice by former prime minister Justin Trudeau and is currently set to end in March of next year.
The joint House of Commons and Senate committee finished hearing from witnesses Tuesday night and is now working on its report.
Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski, who is one of the chairs of the committee, said Wednesday it has not come to a decision on what to recommend.
He said there are three potential options: allowing the expansion, pausing it for a certain period of time or pausing it indefinitely.
Mr. Powlowski said the report will come before the House of Commons rises for the summer, but declined to speculate on the outcome.
Conservative MP Michael Cooper, who also sits on the committee, said nothing has changed since previous studies of the issue.
“The bottom line is that the government has had to come back two times to introduce emergency legislation to delay implementation of this expansion, the same issues remain unresolved,” he said.
He cited the question of whether a mental illness is irremediable and 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, and circumstances is for the government to come back with a bill to indefinitely put a pause on this planned expansion,” he said.
Justice Minister Sean Fraser said the committee’s recommendations will help guide the government.
“I think it would be premature for us to declare a position on the next steps when the group that we’ve actively tasked to consider this issue in depth is doing their work,” he said.
“I’d like to give them the space to complete the study, and then we’ll be in a position to consider all the perspectives as we finalize our position.”