Health officials on Thursday “introduced legislation proposing to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility for MAID for persons suffering solely from a mental illness for three years,” the government said in announcing the delay.
The Canadian Parliament’s Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance In Dying said in its third report issued in January that the mental illness expansion of the suicide law “should not be made available in Canada until the Minister of Health and the Minister of Justice are satisfied … that it can be safely and adequately provided.”
The committee said it had heard concerns about the health system’s “lack of readiness,” including a potential inability to distinguish requests for assisted suicide from mere “suicidality.”
The investigation also revealed uncertainties as to “whether there are enough properly trained practitioners — psychiatrists in particular — to safely and adequately provide” for the expanded suicide program.
Some witnesses to the investigation expressed concern for “vulnerable groups, including women, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, people living in poverty, and people in geographically underserved areas.”
Ya’ara Saks, the Canadian mental health minister, said in announcing the delay that “supporting the mental health and well-being of people in Canada remains a priority for our government.”