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<\/p>\nJustice Minister Sean Fraser says the government is nearly ready to reveal its long-awaited decision on the next steps for medical assistance in dying in Canada, which is expected to address whether the procedure will be available to people who solely suffer from mental illness.<\/p>\n
A press release from the Justice Department said the announcement will be made with Health Minister Marjorie Michel in Ottawa on Wednesday at noon.<\/p>\n
It will be the first time the federal government communicates the direction it plans to take on MAID in the wake of a parliamentary committee recommending in June that it should \u201cindefinitely pause\u201d an expansion of the end of life procedure to people with mental disorders.<\/p>\n
Fraser said he will be putting the \u201cfinal touches on the path forward\u201d over the next 24 hours, and that his office solicited a variety of views in the wake of the report\u2019s release.<\/p>\n
Critics accused the committee \u2014 which was set up to study whether the country was ready for the March expansion to happen \u2014 of being biased.<\/p>\n
They said most of the witnesses who were invited to speak were opposed to the expansion, while people who live with mental illness and who want access to MAID were not invited to testify.<\/p>\n
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A number of psychiatrists said they worried people who don\u2019t have access to proper mental-health treatment would seek MAID.<\/p>\n
Some expert witnesses raised concerns about whether health-care providers could determine with any degree of certainty that a person\u2019s mental disorder is irremediable.<\/p>\n
Fraser said he\u2019s heard from people on both sides.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThey were able, separate and apart from the parliamentary committee process, to share very directly their own plans, their own perspectives, and their desired path forward for the government,\u201d Fraser told reporters in Ottawa on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel confident that we\u2019ve heard a range of different views in the development of the policy process and we\u2019ll be able to share next steps tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
A temporary exclusion has been in place for people who suffer solely from a mental illness since 2021.<\/p>\n
That exclusion has been repeatedly extended, most recently until March.<\/p>\n
The House of Commons is also set to vote on Wednesday on a Conservative private member\u2019s bill that would exclude people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness from MAID.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to look at ourselves in the mirror and ask why we\u2019re pursuing such a lethal policy,\u201d said Conservative MP Tamara Jansen at a press conference on Sept. 23, the day the bill was debated.<\/p>\n
Fraser would not say how the government intends to vote on Jansen\u2019s bill, which is at second reading.<\/p>\n
When MAID legislation was first passed in 2016, it required someone\u2019s death to be reasonably foreseeable in order to qualify.<\/p>\n
The federal government revised legislation in 2021 to include people who suffer intolerably with a serious and incurable illness or disability but whose death was not reasonably foreseeable.<\/p>\n
By Hannah Alberga and Sarah Ritchie<\/p>\n
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n