Health Minister Mark Holland said the country is not ready to expand eligibility for assisted dying to people whose only medical condition is mental illness.
He says the Liberal government agrees more time is needed and agrees with the conclusion of a joint parliamentary committee report released Monday.
The committee’s final report, tabled moments before Mr. Holland and Justice Minister Arif Virani went out to Parliament Hill, said the fundamental problems surrounding the expansion had not been resolved.
MPs and senators on the committee believe it would be “reckless and dangerous” for the Liberal government to authorize the change planned for March.
Mr. Virani maintains that the government is very aware of this upcoming deadline and will have a plan in place.
Legislation is needed to change the timeline, and the Liberals already legislated a one-year delay last year, saying at the time that medical providers and provinces needed more time to prepare.
Critics have argued that there is no clear way to determine whether someone with a mental disorder can get better and worry about how evaluators might take into account circumstances such as poverty.
Supporters of the expansion said excluding people with mental illness from the program amounts to discrimination.
This decision should earn the Liberal government the support of the Conservatives and the NDP.
In Parliament, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre had already pledged to reverse the change if he formed the next government.
Federal New Democrats also said they opposed expansion until better supports were in place to help people struggling with mental illness.
The Canadian Bar Divided
Furthermore, a group of Canadian lawyers wants their national defense organization to withdraw its support for this update.
Earlier today, a group of Canadian lawyers announced that they would like their national defense organization to withdraw its support for this update to the rules governing medical assistance in dying.
The Canadian Bar Association, which represents thousands of lawyers across Canada, has argued that excluding these patients could violate their rights, but its members are expected to debate a resolution next week that would reverse that position.
The resolution calls on the association not only to retract its previous statements, but also to urge federal, provincial and territorial governments to wait for reliable means “to determine whether psychiatric disorders are irremediable.”
The resolution also recommends prioritizing mental health supports in the meantime.
The lawyers’ efforts mark the main opposition facing the federal Liberal government.