Summary
Two legislative efforts to limit Canada’s medical aid in dying framework converged on February 5. Conservative member of Parliament Garnett Genuis introduced Bill C-260, a private member’s bill aimed at prohibiting any federal or provincial government employee in a position of authority from initiating discussions about medical aid in dying due to coercion. The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) issued a statement on the same day strongly supporting Tamara Jansen’s private member’s Bill C-218, which would prevent persons with mental illness from accessing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (MAID). This bill aligns with the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ recommendation to rescind “Track 2 MAID.” The bishops also called for free conscience voting given the matter’s profound moral and social implications, emphasizing improved access to mental illness treatment and palliative care. Genuis emphasized that his Bill C-260 would clarify MAID laws by explicitly covering coercive situations such as counseling sessions. He cited Nicolas Bergeron’s case as an example of non-experts in positions of authority pushing for medically-facilitated death, where a social worker pressured him into considering euthanasia despite not being interested in it.
Key Topics
Nicarolas Bergeron, Catholic bishops, mental illness
