Liberals to introduce legislation delaying MAID expansion

OTTAWA-

The federal government is expected to introduce legislation as early as Thursday to delay extending eligibility for medical assistance in dying to people whose only underlying condition is a mental disorder.

Justice Minister David Lametti announced in December that Ottawa intended to seek the delay after hearing concerns that the health care system might not be ready for an expanded plan, but he did not. not proposed a timetable for the duration of the delay.

An update to the assisted dying law passed in 2021 put a two-year deadline on extending eligibility which expires in March.

The Liberal government did not originally intend for this law to extend eligibility for physician-assisted dying to people whose only underlying condition is mental illness, but approved a Senate amendment to that effect.

Senators argued that excluding people with mental illness would violate their Charter right to equal treatment.

Tory MP Michael Cooper says the government’s decision to ask for a delay underscores its ‘reckless approach’ to expanding the scheme, and he says the Liberals should abandon the expansion altogether.