The date when MAiD for mental illness would be allowed has been looming for years. The law allowing this expansion was passed in 2021, with a delay until it would take effect. Thankfully that take-effect date has been pushed back more than once – in 2023 and 2024.
Now, it’s looming again. In less than 8 months, on March 17, 2026, the
law allowing MAiD for mental illness will take effect, unless a bill is passed to delay it again – or stop it altogether.
Over the summer, the Justice Minister is
considering what he will do about MAiD for mental illness.
A parliamentary committee has
recommended indefinitely delaying MAiD for mental illness, in a
report tabled in June, just before the summer break. This is a very positive development.
But the government must now decide whether it will adopt that recommendation and stop the coming expansion. If the government does nothing, MAiD on the basis of mental illness will become available in March.
This is a critical time to engage: ask your MP to delay MAiD for mental illness indefinitely or to completely reverse the law that allows it.
Before the committee released its report,
media reports had indicated the government was open to an indefinite delay if that was what the committee recommended. Since the report was tabled, pro-euthanasia groups like Dying with Dignity have been pushing back, urging the government to allow the expansion to go ahead.
Claire Brosseau, who, with
Dying with Dignity, launched a court challenge against the delay of MAiD for mental illness in 2024, has now applied to the courts to exempt her from the law so that she can end her life by MAiD.
In a court hearing this month about her request, the federal government’s lawyer
said, “Parliament is currently deciding how it will respond to the report and what it will do with the mental illness exclusion.”
Claire Brosseau’s lawyer
argued the court should ignore the committee report and that its findings don’t reflect the will of Parliament.
What is the will of Parliament?
That will be shaped this summer as MPs are in their ridings and meeting with their constituents.
Even if you’ve contacted your MP about MAiD for mental illness before, this is an important time to communicate again.
It can take as little as 15 minutes to tell
your MP that you support an indefinite pause on MAiD for mental illness, or better still, a
complete stop.
When Parliament resumes in the fall, a bill that would reverse the expansion of MAiD for mental illness will come up for debate and vote.
Bill C-218 is on the
list of bills that will be addressed in the House of Commons in late September/early October.
Here are 3 easy steps you can take:
- Find your MP here using your postal code.
- Call the MP’s office and explain that you live in the riding and would like your MP to support an indefinite delay for MAiD for mental illness as the committee recommended, and support Bill C-218 to stop the expansion altogether. Leaving a voicemail message is also an option. See TheEFC.ca/C218 for tips and messaging.
- To be more effective, contact your MP in more than one way. Send an email and follow up with a phone call, or call and follow up with an email. In person contact is always the most effective.
As always, we seek to be respectful and constructive in our interactions.
The response we hear may just be talking points, but whether our MPs agree with us or not, they will take note of our communication.
As Canadians, we have the opportunity to shape what happens next, to be part of this process. The door is open for an indefinite delay to MAiD for mental illness, if not a reversal of the expansion.
Let’s encourage our country to move towards offering care and support for those struggling with mental illness, rather than offering death via MAiD.
Please let us know if you contact your MP. We’d love to hear from you.