The Trudeau government is pushing back the expansion of medical euthanasia for people with mental disorders as the only criterion by a year to give itself more time to think about it.
“We have listened to experts, medical professionals and concerned citizens who have asked for more time,” Federal Justice Minister David Lametti said at a news conference on Thursday.
This new deadline will allow states to receive “clear instructions” on how to carry out medical assistance in dying (MAID) “in difficult and complex circumstances”.
The MAID Act was amended in 2021 to accommodate people whose deaths are “not reasonably foreseeable”.
People with mental disorders as the sole criterion should technically be eligible by March 2023.
Minister Lametti’s C-39 bill, presented on Thursday, now sees this new directive coming into force automatically in March 2024.
Once C-39 is passed, there will be no turning back as the Supreme Court ruled it is a right in a 2015 ruling, the minister warned.
“It is part of the autonomy of the individual and protected by the court. I honestly don’t think, as a lawyer, that it won’t be possible [de défendre une contestation] in court,” he said.
The delay before expanding the AMM to cases of mental disorders took place “for good reasons”. “It is this realization that MAID is complex in these circumstances and requires careful investigation,” he explained.
Meanwhile, elected officials are awaiting the report of a special joint committee, due to be submitted to Parliament on February 17.
Lametti said he acknowledges that some Canadians may be “disappointed” with the new deadline, “but I also believe the extension is necessary to ensure MAID is administered safely and consistently in cases where mental disorders are the… only illness.