51% of Canadians oppose mental health expansion to medically assisted death: Survey

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More than half of Canadians oppose a proposed expansion to medical assistance in dying (MAiD), which would expand coverage to those suffering solely from mental illness.

While 61 per cent of Canadians support MAiD in its current form, support drops significantly to 31 per cent when asked if assisted death should be made available to those suffering from "irremediable" mental illnesses, according to new data from the Angus Reid Institute.

The proposed expansion to MAiD, which was set to take effect this March, was delayed by one year to March 2024. Justice Minister David Lametti said, "more time is needed to get this right."

'More time is needed to get this right'

"The proposed one-year expansion is necessary to ensure that we move forward on this sensitive and complex issue in a prudent and measured way," Lametti told reporters.

In its current form, medical assistance in dying is available to those with serious and incurable illnesses, diseases or disabilities, with or without a foreseeable death. Foreseeable death was a key component of MAiD's initial criteria in 2016; however, it was challenged in court and deemed unconstitutional.

The law no longer requires a person's natural death to be reasonably foreseeable as an eligibility criterion for MAiD.

51% of Canadians opposed to mental health expansion

While support for MAiD varies, results from Monday's survey suggest that just over half of those polled, 51 per cent, are opposed to the mental health expansion.

When surveyed, more than half of Canadians, 55 per cent, say they worry about MAiD taking the place of improvements in social services.

In April, a 51-year-old with severe sensitivities to chemicals opted for medical euthanasia after a failed bid to get better housing, CTV News reported.

In a separate case, a woman experiencing long-COVID symptoms applied for a medically-assisted death because her illness didn't qualify for the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). She stated that MAiD was "a financial consideration" for her — she couldn't afford to live without support.

Number of medically assisted deaths continue to rise

Since MAiD passed in 2016, more than 10,000 Canadians have opted to end their lives via the procedure, accounting for 3.3 per cent of all deaths in Canada.

All provinces continue to experience steady year-over-year growth of patients accessing the service. From 2020 to 2021 alone, the number of MAiD cases increased by 32.4 per cent, according to Health Canada. The annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada is not yet available for 2022.

"Asked if they consider this a success, that Canadians are now controlling their end-of-life decisions, or a failure, that MAiD may be overused or abused, Canadians are more inclined to see value in its availability," reads the Angus Reid report.

"More than two in five (43 per cent) say this, while one-quarter (25 per cent) disagree and say this trend is a bad thing."

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