A private member’s bill to prevent the mentally ill from receiving medically-assisted deaths was narrowly defeated by a vote of 167 to 150 at second reading in parliament on Wednesday.Bill C-314, the Mental Health Protection Act, was introduced by Ed Fast (CPC, Abbotsford) February 10. Yesterday, all 117 Conservative MPs voted yes to C-314, as did all 25 NDP MPs, both Green MPs, one Independent MP and eight Liberals. No Bloc Quebecois MPs voted against the bill.On March 17, 2021 parliament passed Bill C-7 which expanded Canada's euthanasia law by removing the 'terminal illness' requirement, removing the 10-day reflection period when someone is deemed to be 'terminally ill,' adding a 90-day waiting period for someone who is approved for euthanasia but not 'terminally ill,' permitting euthanasia for someone who is incompetent but previously approved for euthanasia and permitting euthanasia for someone with mental illness alone.An initial one-year moratorium on euthanasia for the mentally ill was extended an additional year. MAiD for mental illness alone will become officially legal on March 17, 2024.The delay was called for in a November 2022 call to action by the Society of Canadian Psychiatry. The organization said the determination that a medical condition was “irremediable” was a “fundamental premise” to assisted dying and one that “it is not possible to determine” for individual cases.An Angus Reid Institute survey indicated that only 28% of Canadians support euthanasia for mental illness while 82% of Canadians stated mental health care should be improved before euthanasia for mental illness is considered. Many groups supported Bill C-314, including the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, based in Canmore, AB. “It is important to be perfectly clear, that when considering MAiD in the context of someone who is not dying as a result of their condition, such as a mental disorder alone, we are talking about suicide,” CASP said in a statement last December.“By the very definition of suicide, which is the act of killing oneself, if the condition from which they are suffering is not killing them, then the act of providing medical assistance in dying is doctor-assisted suicide.At a parliamentary press conference earlier this month, euthanasia opponents spoke in support of the legislation. Anike Morrison, who lives with a severe mental health condition, said in 2018 she fell into such a deep depression she was hospitalized five times, adding if MAiD had been an option then, she “may not be here today.”“It was a very rough time. It was only through the care of the psychiatrists, psychologists, pharmacists and social workers that I was able to get better and move through that time in my life,” she said.In a post to the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition blog, Executive Director Alex Schadenberg thanked Fast for his efforts.“Thank you to Hon. Ed Fast for sponsoring Bill C-314 and for his professional campaign in support of the bill. Thank you to all of the Conservative MP's, to all of the NDP MP's, to the courageous Liberal MP's and the others who supported Bill C-314,” wrote Schadenberg.“This is not a ‘settled’ issue. We will not be silent in the face of killing.”
