Claire Brosseau and Ottawa prepare to halt MAID expansion for mental illness
Claire Brosseau’s case comes as the federal government prepares to table legislation that would pause the expansion of medical assistance in dying to people whose sole condition is mental illness if a parliamentary committee recommends that step. The committee was hearing its final witnesses on Tuesday, and its report could trigger a summer drafting process if it reaches Parliament in time.
Powlowski committee report
The committee is expected to write a report with recommendations in the weeks or months ahead, with a final deadline of Oct. 2. Pierre Dalphond, the Senate vice-chair, said he anticipates discussion of three possible recommendations: pause the expansion indefinitely, pause it for a finite period of time, or allow the expansion to go ahead.
He said, “I personally think it should be paused – for now.” Dalphond cited continuing litigation, reluctance on the part of the provinces, and testimony before the committee on the complexity around mental-health diagnoses.
The committee has heard from physicians and Health Canada officials that the country may not be ready to move ahead, and that the health care system is not ready for the expansion. It has also heard that determining eligibility would be complex.
March deadline for MAID
Canada opened up MAID in 2021 to people who were not facing imminent death and created a temporary exclusion for mental illness. Former prime minister Justin Trudeau extended that exemption twice, and it is now set to end in March of next year.
The government expects the committee to recommend a pause based on evidence presented in hearings and questions from MPs over the past two months. Mark Carney has not spoken about the issue, leaving the next legislative step tied to the committee’s findings and the report it sends to Parliament.
Dutch warnings in committee
During the final hearing on Tuesday evening, two Dutch psychiatrists urged parliamentarians not to expand MAID to mental illness alone. Jim van Os said the Dutch experience offered “a warning for Canada.”
He said requests for what he described as psychiatric euthanasia for people under 30 increased to nearly 900 per year from 30 in the past six years, and said completed deaths rose five-fold. He said most of those people were traumatized, marginalized and living in poverty.
For Claire Brosseau, who has been denied access to Canada’s MAID program, the committee’s report now matters because it could decide whether the pause becomes law before the current exclusion expires. If the committee backs a delay, the government is prepared to move quickly; if it does not, the March deadline remains the point at which the current carve-out ends.
