OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney says he isn’t in any rush to make a decision on access to medical assistance in dying for people whose sole condition is mental illness, after reports the federal government is prepared to table legislation to pause the expansion based on committee recommendation.
Eligible Canadians have had access to MAID since 2016, with amendments made to the criteria in 2021. Further expansion of MAID to include mental illness as the sole factor, however, has been highly controversial, and in 2024, the federal government under former prime minister Justin Trudeau announced it was delaying the move until 2027, after the next federal election.
A special joint parliamentary committee has since taken up the work of studying the issue, hearing from more than three dozen witnesses in the last year, with recommendations due before the expansion comes into effect next year.
The Globe and Mail reported Wednesday based on sources that the federal government expects the committee will recommend a pause on the expansion.
“I’m waiting to see the report of the inter-parliamentary committee,” Carney told reporters on Parliament Hill Wednesday. “I haven’t actually seen anything on it. I haven’t received any briefings specifically on it, and we’ll get it when we get it.”
“I like to take informed positions,” he also said, when asked specifically for his stance on MAID with mental illness as the sole condition.
Several cabinet members and MPs across the aisle also commented on the issue on their way into and out of caucus meetings Wednesday.
Justice Minister and Attorney General Sean Fraser said the federal government is waiting on the results of committee study before making a decision, adding it would be “premature” to do so before that.
“I’d like to give them the space to complete the study, and then we’ll be in a position to consider all the perspectives as we finalize our position,” Fraser said.
“We have very purposefully tasked a group of individuals to come together, to gather perspectives from different people who dedicated their lives, their careers, to understanding the various issues at play, because we believe this is extremely serious,” he also said.
Liberal MP and committee member Greg Fergus said he has “some views” on the expansion, but is going to share them in camera with the rest of the committee before doing so publicly.
Asked whether he thinks there will be unanimous consensus on the issue, Fergus said: “No.”
Conservative MP — and committee member — Michael Cooper said it is “very clear” the expansion of MAID cannot go forward as is.
“It is difficult, if not impossible, to determine irremediability, and therefore it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine whether someone will get better,” Cooper said.
He said the “bottom line” is the government has had to delay the expansion more than once without the underlying issues being resolved, so he believes it should be “indefinitely” put on hold.
In an interview with CTV Question Period in 2024, then-justice minister Arif Virani said the number of people seeking out MAID with mental illness as the sole factor is very small, making up less than four per cent of all patients seeking MAID.
In a statement to CTV News on Wednesday, Krista Carr, the CEO of the disability rights organization Inclusion Canada, called on the government to cancel the MAID expansion, and to repeal the 2021 changes that includes people with disabilities.
“Persons with disabilities deserve the same response other Canadians receive when they are suffering: investment in supports, housing, and mental-health services, not a faster path to death,” Carr wrote. “We should be investing in making lives better, not ending them.”
Carr testified at the special inter-parliamentary committee last month, and said members “overwhelmingly” heard from experts and individuals who oppose the expansion of MAID for people whose sole condition is mental illness.
The parliamentary committee is set to table its report and recommendations before the House rises for the summer break at the end of June.
With files from CTV News’ Rachel Aiello
