Paul Tuns:
Conservative MP Tamara Jansen (Cloverdale-Langley City) introduced a private member’s bill, Bill C-218, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying).
In 2021, Parliament passed Bill C-7 broadening Canada’s euthanasia law, with one of the provisions being expanding Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying regime to patients suffering solely from mental illness. Other so-called safeguards that were lifted included permitting patients whose death was not imminent to be medically killed.
The government set a two-year moratorium for the mental illness provision to take effect, and after political pressure the government has twice postponed implementation. Unless the government once again postpones implementation or Parliament rescinds the provision, patients suffering solely from mental illness will be able to access euthanasia in March 2027.
Jansens’s bill would prevent euthanasia for mental illness by excluding mental disorders from being considered a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” for the purposes of MAiD.
Introducing the bill in the House of Commons, Jansen said that the psychiatric community says there is no evidence-based way to know who is likely to recover from mental illness but the message the law sends is to tell mentally ill patients that “death is a solution we are now willing to offer.”
Bill C-218 is identical to Bill C-314 that was sponsored by now retired Conservative MP Ed Fast, which was narrowly defeated in October 2023 in a 167-150 vote.
The bill, seconded by Conservative MP Andrew Lawton (Elgin-St. Thomas-London South) will likely receive its first hour of debate in November.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, welcomed C-218 as “great news.”
Schadenberg is trying to collect stories from people living with mental health concerns and would be at risk of euthanasia. He said, “It is not easy to share stories, but the courage to share your suffering may lead to protection for other people.”
Jansen posted on her social media accounts that concerned Canadians should “Call your local MP and encourage them to support the bill.”
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada encouraged Christians to “contact your MP in more than one way for even greater impact, for example, by calling and writing” in support of C-218.
