Federal health minister Mark Holland is asking Parliament to slow down on his government's plan to expand access to medically assisted death for people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness.
Leading experts involved in developing an expansion of Canada's medically assisted dying regime to people whose sole underlying condition is a mental disorder are at odds over whether the expansion should be delayed.
Revelations that some Canadian veterans have been offered medically assisted deaths while seeking help from the federal government are adding to worries about Ottawa’s plans to expand such procedures to include mental-health injuries and illnesses.
With the help of the Bloc Quebecois, the minority Liberal government has passed a revised bill to expand access to medical assistance in dying — including eventually to people suffering solely from mental illnesses.
The Trudeau government has agreed with the Senate that Canadians suffering solely from grievous and irremediable mental illnesses should be entitled to receive medical assistance in dying — but not for another two years.
Senators overwhelmingly approved on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, a bill to expand access to medical assistance in dying with amendments that would relax access even more than proposed by the government.
United Nations human rights experts are alarmed by what they see as a growing trend to enact legislation allowing medical assistance in dying for people suffering from non-terminal, disabling conditions.