Canada's special joint committee on medical assistance in dying (MAID) has recommended that the government indefinitely exclude persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness from eligibility for MAID. The recommendation, released in a new report, calls for an amendment to the Criminal Code to this effect.
Conservative MP introduces bill to codify exclusion
Conservative MP Tamara Jansen has tabled Bill C-218, which would amend the Criminal Code to specify that a mental disorder is not a grievous and irremediable medical condition for which a person could receive MAID. If passed, the bill would effectively implement the committee's recommendation.
Author Amy Hamm, a former mental health nurse, argues that this is a moral victory for Canada. Since 2021, when Bill C-7 was passed with a sunset clause enabling mentally ill people to seek MAID at a future date—currently set for March 17, 2027—Canadians with mental illnesses have lived under the shadow of state-assisted suicide.
Deep philosophical divisions in committee
The parliamentary report reveals deep philosophical divisions among witnesses and experts. Some argued that clinicians can differentiate between acute suicidality as a symptom of treatable mental illness and a genuine desire to die from untreatable conditions. Others, including Hamm, contend that no such differentiation is possible.
Hamm states: “Irremediability, when it comes to mental illness, is purely subjective. No set of diagnostic criteria could ever delineate these suicide wishes.” She warns that allowing the state to try would sanction the deaths of untold thousands of vulnerable people.
Dissenting senators push for Supreme Court referral
Attached to the report is a dissenting opinion from senators Rosemary Moodie, Pamela Wallin, and Kristopher Wells, who urge the government not to accept the majority report. They question its bias and credibility, claiming it was created via a “highly irregular and flawed process” that favored witnesses opposed to the policy. They instead ask that the issue be referred to the Supreme Court.
Hamm dismisses the dissenters, arguing that no safeguards or clinical criteria will ever justify MAID for mental illness. Drawing on her 13 years of experience in British Columbia's mental health system, including nursing on acute psychiatric wards and outreach work in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, she emphasizes that the most despicable thing health-care providers could do is tell patients they have no chance of recovery or examine whether their wish to die is clinically valid.
