Canada ‘not ready’ to expand assisted dying for mental health: minister

Health Minister Mark Holland said the government agrees with a joint parliamentary committee report that said Canada is not ready to expand medical assistance in dying in March.

Canada is “not ready” to expand eligibility for medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people with mental health as their sole medical condition, Health Minister Mark Holland said Monday.

Holland said the government agrees with a joint parliamentary committee report released earlier Monday that reached the same conclusion, and that assisted death should only be offered to such patients when it can be “safely and adequately provided.”

The minister said the government plans to table a response to the report in the coming days that will ask for more time to implement the change, but did not say how much time the government will be asking for beyond the current March deadline.

“We agree with the conclusion that the committee has come to that the system is, at this time, not ready and more time is required,” Holland told reporters.

The government had been facing a March 17 deadline to expand eligibility for assisted death to people whose only medical condition is a mental illness.

The Liberals had already legislated a one-year delay last year to enact the expansion, saying at the time that medical providers and provinces needed more time to prepare.

An additional delay would also need to be legislated, this time before the current March 17, deadline, which Holland and Justice Minister Arif Virani acknowledged puts pressure on Parliament to move quickly.

“The legislative time frame is tight. We recognize that. This has to be done in advance of (March 17),” Holland said.