'Many people are now saying that we, in fact, will have to go to the courts to settle this,' NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, vice chair of the joint committee that studied MAID, tells John Ivison
This week, John Ivison talked to Alistair MacGregor, NDP MP for Cowichan, Malahat, Langford in British Columbia and the Vice Chair of the Special Joint Committee that just tabled an important report on the medical assistance in dying issue.
The committee was charged with the task of judging whether Canada is prepared for the safe application for medically assisted dying where the sole underlying condition is mental illness.
This week it responded in the negative, after hearing from a number of witnesses who said Canada will never be ready for such a dramatic expansion.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.
Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.
Don't have an account? Create Account
The government said it agrees and will seek a legislative extension of the March 17th deadline that would otherwise have passed the provision into law.
Ivison asked whether this is just another pause, or whether it represents a repudiation of the idea that MAID should be extended to people where the sole underlying condition is mental illness?
MacGregor said the problem is of the government’s own making. When the government was forced by a Quebec court to extend access to MAID to those whose death was not “reasonably foreseeable,” the NDP backed the legislation, Bill C-7. However, a late Senate amendment slipped in the provision on extending MAID further to people with mental disorders and the Liberals accepted the amendment.
“I did vote in favour of the original version of C-7, but our caucus rejected the Senate amendment that was made at the 11th hour and completely contrary to the government’s original charter statement on that particular provision,” he said. “ I think all of the consequences you’re seeing, you know, the continuous extension, punting down the road, they’re all a result of that decision of accepting a Senate amendment by the government.
Your guide to the world of Canadian politics. (Subscriber exclusive on Saturdays)
By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.
A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.
The next issue of First Reading will soon be in your inbox.
We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again
“My big concern when the government accepted that Senate amendment and then established the special joint committee, it felt as a committee member, because I have been on the committee from the beginning, it felt like we were playing a game of catch-up. You know, the law had been changed.
“But we hadn’t done the consultation, the consulting with experts and researchers in the field, and even with the general Canadian public. So it feels like we’ve kind of been building the plane as it’s been flying midair.”
MacGregor said witness testimony among psychiatrists and psychologists suggests there is a broad professional discomfort with this expansion.
“I don’t know if we are going to ever be ready, but we certainly are not ready now. That is my opinion, and I think that’s backed up by many of our expert witnesses,” he said.
Ivison pointed out that some academics argue that “the courts have spoken” and parliament has no option to grant those with a mental disorder access to MAID.
MacGregor disputed that assertion.
“No, the courts have not spoken on this particular matter, on mental disorder as a sole underlying medical condition. In fact, you can see many people in the aftermath of our committee report and the government’s decision to introduce legislation, many people are now saying that we, in fact, will have to go to the courts to settle this.”
He said he has wrestled with sections 7 and 15 of the Charter – the right for individuals to make decisions over his or her own body and the right to equality under the law. “(But) a lot of people seem to forget that we also have a very important section 1 in our Charter that says that rights are not absolute, and sometimes it may be in society’s interest to limit them or give pause to them. So this may ultimately have to go to the courts but it has not been settled by the courts to this date and I would agree that parliament does have some agency,” he said.
Ivison noted that the government has instituted “model practice standards” to guide medical practitioners assessing patients but that those standards do not require a psychiatrist to be involved.
MacGregor agreed that was troubling. “Some of the psychiatrists who were our witnesses also stated that it is quite impossible to differentiate between suicidality and a psychotic episode where a mental disorder is actually separate and apart from suicidal thoughts. So they just said with our current practice standards, it’s simply impossible to make that determination,” he said.
One witness said that clinician predictions on the long-term prognosis of a person with a mental disorder are wrong one half of the time.
“I think that should be quite concerning,” MacGregor said. “I think the other thing I’d like to add is, if you look at our committee’s work on this specific question, we did not have a lot of time. I really wish we had far more runway to delve into this very, very sensitive subject. We really only had three hour meetings with witnesses and we were limited by the fact that the law is going to change on March 17th. So I would have preferred our committee to have been struck far earlier and for us to have had a lot more chances to interview a wider spectrum of witnesses and even provincial health officials as well.”
MacGregor said he thinks the committee needs to be struck again to look more closely at whether this pause should be indefinite. He said the House will pass the legislation needed to postpone the March 17th introduction of MAID for those with mental disorders.
“The Senate though may be another beast entirely, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Red Chamber reacts,” he said.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Delicious ideas that will ignite his senses
Three buzzed-about beauty products we tried this week.
This one's not just for basketball fans ...
Here’s my quick-and-easy, three-step process on how to contour the face using foundation sticks.
Stream the game on Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024
login
who are we?
contact us
qosheapp
Toi Staff
Gideon Levy
Belen Fernandez
Andrew Mitrovica
Mort Laitner
Nikkei Editorial
Rami G Khouri
Ali Fathollah-Nejad
visit website
