Tamara Jansen, MP for Cloverdale-黑马磁力 City, has brought forth a private member鈥檚 bill regarding Medical Assistance in Dying and mental illness.
She introduced Bill C-218 in Parliament June 20. The legislation seeks to block the Liberal Government鈥檚 planned expansion in 2027 of access to Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAID, for people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness by amending the Criminal Code.
Jansen was at Academy Farms in 黑马磁力 July 9 to talk about the bill. The bill鈥檚 seconder Andrew Lawton (MP for Elgin-St. Thomas-London South) was also on hand鈥攁s was Graydon Nicholas (former Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick, former Provincial Court Judge, and First Nations advocate), and Alicia Duncan (advocate and author of The Other Side of the Straitjacket).
The bill, called the Right to Recover Act, will have a second reading in November.
Jansen said the issue is very important and something that should concern every Canadian. When seeking help, she said vulnerable people with mental health issues are facing long delays and no access to support but could be offered MAID instead.
March 2027
鈥淭hat鈥檚 where Canada is headed in 2027 if we don鈥檛 change course,鈥� she noted. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I鈥檝e introduced Bill C-218. This would make it illegal to offer Medical Assistance in Dying to someone whose sole medical condition is a mental illness.鈥�
She said MAID for mental illness doesn鈥檛 protect the vulnerable, she said it 鈥渢argets鈥� them.
鈥淚t reaches people, not when they're stable, but when they're at their lowest and they're in crisis, isolated without enough support,鈥� Jansen explained. 鈥淲e're here because with mental illness, recovery and hope is possible. People can get better. Canadians struggling with their mental health deserve care and support not a state-sanctioned path to death.鈥�
Jansen said the bill is about 鈥渘ot giving up鈥� on people. She said those suffering from trauma, PTSD, or depression could walk into a hospital, ask for help, and be offered MAID as an alternative.
She said she talked to a veteran who was offered MAID. She heard of a Paralympian who was trying to get a new ramp for their home, but was offered MAID.
鈥淲e had a woman with suicidality who went to emergency for suicide prevention and was told about MAID instead,鈥� Jansen revealed. 鈥淭hese are proof that Canada鈥檚 MAID regime is putting people in danger鈥攐ffering death for people who are asking for dignity, support, and a chance to recover.鈥�
She said most people she鈥檚 talked to find it hard to believe those stories and are dumbfounded when they hear that those with a mental illness will be able to request MAID as of March 2027.
鈥淯nfortunately, it is true and that's the law that we currently have on the books and Liberals have had to put it on hold twice due to push back from so many different stakeholders.鈥�
Fall 2024
Nicholas, a member of the Tobique First Nation, cautioned that it鈥檚 already happening in Quebec. He said most people don鈥檛 know, but a Quebec court ruled in 2024 to speed up the Liberal鈥檚 timeline for extending the qualifications for MAID in La Belle Province.
鈥淪adly, and unfortunately, last fall, the Government of Quebec, through the attorney general and the minister of health, actually advanced that particular legislation,鈥� Nicholas explained. 鈥淪o, right now in Quebec, they're offering euthanasia for those who have come in with mental health problems.鈥�
He added it鈥檚 causing 鈥渕ajor problems鈥� in Quebec and many in the Indigenous communities there are suffering because of it. He said our health-care system should be providing services for people that offer value to their lives amid positive solutions, not suicide solutions.
鈥淯nfortunately, the services are not there.鈥�
2021
Alicia Duncan said her mother Donna was suffering from mental health issues in Abbotsford in 2021. She had been in a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury.
She called the laws surrounding MAID 鈥減oorly legislated鈥� and said her mother struggled for 20 months to get help that would have made difference in her life.
Duncan found out two days ahead of time that her mother was scheduled to go in for medical-assisted suicide.
鈥淢y sister and I鈥攌nowing that she had no terminal diagnosis, no diagnosis other than depression鈥�(knew) something was very wrong,鈥� Duncan said. 鈥淲e believed that we could stop this because surely the law would protect someone like my mom in a mental health crisis.鈥�
But it didn鈥檛 happen. The police helped the sisters as best they could and so did the courts; the sisters were granted a court injunction against her mother鈥檚 MAID request. But the system is the system and Duncan and her sister ran out of options.
Although suffering from depression, and that alone right now, at least outside Quebec, is not enough to be greenlit for MAID, Donna was also starving herself.
鈥淵ou can access it here if you also have a physical condition,鈥� Duncan noted. 鈥淏ecause my mom was starving herself, she had become very frail. And frailty meets the written requirement of someone who is 鈥榯erminal.鈥� So anorexia is a loophole in our current system.鈥�
Her mother died shortly thereafter. She鈥檚 fought the system and will continue to fight, but she says the protection for those with mental health issues is just not there.
Duncan supports Jansen鈥檚 bill. She said it鈥檚 needed to protect those who are mentally incapable of protecting themselves. She said her mom was not protected under Canadian law.
鈥淯nder our current legislation, she was deemed as someone who was terminal,鈥� Duncan said. 鈥淢y mom had no terminal diagnosis.鈥�
She said she believes it鈥檚 鈥渕orally irresponsible鈥� to expand MAID to those suffering from mental issues.
鈥淚 am terrified of what will happen in March 2027 if we allow this to expand for people that do have a mental health condition.鈥�
Duncan said she鈥檚 speaking out so people can understand the human cost of MAID and she鈥檚 hoping other鈥檚 will, in turn, speak out too.
鈥淐ontact your MP to support this bill,鈥� she added. 鈥淭his is not an issue for any political party. This is a human rights issue. I just really want to reiterate that we can鈥檛 protect our family members and loved ones if we don鈥檛 change the legislation.
鈥淗opefully we can save vulnerable people like my mom.鈥�
