Expanding MAID to cover mental illness as a sole condition is reckless — psychiatrists cannot reliably determine irremediability, and clinicians admit distinguishing suicidal ideation from a genuine MAID request may be impossible. Canada's mental health system is underfunded and unprepared, meaning vulnerable people could be pushed toward death instead of recovery. Parliament must pass Bill C-218 and permanently close this door.
MAID is about dignity, autonomy and compassion — and the parliamentary committee process was stacked against expansion from the start, hearing mostly opponents while sidelining clinicians and patients who support access. Denying people with intractable mental illness the same end-of-life options available to those with physical conditions is discriminatory. The politics need to come out of this, and Canadians deserve better policy.
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