A special parliamentary committee has recommended against the federal government expanding its medical assistance in dying (MAID) regime to include those whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness.
The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying’s report, tabled in the House of Commons on June 17, included only one recommendation that the government should “indefinitely exclude” these Canadians from MAID eligibility, as the “evidentiary and systemic conditions necessary for safe and equitable implementation cannot presently be met.”
The report, which was tabled on the 10-year anniversary of MAID’s legalization in Canada, stated that the committee held six meetings and heard from 44 witnesses, which included clinicians, researchers, academics, government officials, and people with “lived experience.”…