A senator who pushed for people with mental disorders to have the ability to request medical assistance in dying (MAID) says the federal government must decide whether it will “allow all Canadians” to make decisions about their end-of-life care.
Medical assistance in dying has been legal in Canada since 2016, and five years later it approved an expansion of eligibility criteria to include people whose only medical problem is mental illness.
Senator Stan Kutcher, a psychiatrist from Nova Scotia, spoke in favor of this expansion, which was set to take effect in March 2023 before being pushed back a year due to concerns about the potential consequences.
A special joint committee of MPs was tasked last fall with assessing whether the health system is ready for this change, and the Liberals must now decide whether or not to move forward with expanding the criteria.
Justice Minister Arif Virani told The Canadian Press last month he would carefully review the committee's recommendations, opening the door to a further delay in the plan to expand the criteria.
Stan Kutcher, who served on the committee, says the courts have ruled that Canadians' requests for medical assistance in dying must be assessed on a case-by-case basis and that he expects the Attorney General of Canada to “stick to the Charter.” . .
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