Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani said Dec. 13 that the Liberals are contemplating pausing plans to broaden the eligibility of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to individuals solely with a mental illness beginning March 17. Cabinet will weigh the feedback offered by a joint parliamentary committee, medical professionals and other stakeholders.

In Health Canada’s latest voluminous annual report on Canadian MAiD’s “evolution” to world-leading status, the minister in charge highlights Ottawa’s commitment to “culturally safe” medicalized killing of Indigenous peoples.

The B.C. government rolled out a plan Nov. 29 to provide euthanasia and assisted suicide at St. Paul’s Hospital — by making it available next door.

A Montreal hospice is under pressure to perform medical assistance in dying (MAiD) contrary to the legal agreement between the Archdiocese of Montreal and the hospice, a source has told The Register.

In a surprise announcement, prominent Canadian human rights lawyer Julius Grey told a group of anti-euthanasia protesters he is prepared to launch a legal action against the law that allows Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) for those with mental health problems.

A new Health Canada report revealed the number of euthanasia deaths in 2022 was 13,241, 31.2-per-cent higher than the 10,092 Canadians who requested assisted suicide in 2021.

Conservative MP Ed Fast is “profoundly disappointed in the Liberal MPs who had promised” they would support Bill C-314, but ultimately chose not to when voting time arrived on Oct. 18. 

Conservative MP Ed Fast’s Bill C-314, which would have stopped the upcoming expansion of the Canadian euthanasia regime, was defeated at second reading in the House of Commons on Oct. 18 by a 167-150 vote. 

Conservative MP Ed Fast said he feels his bill to stop the expansion of MAiD (medical assistance in dying) to the mentally ill is gaining support across the country, and even within the House of Commons chambers.

Four in five Canadians (82 per cent) oppose expanding euthanasia eligibility further without first improving mental health care services, according to a new poll co-released by the Angus Reid Institute and Canadian think tank Cardus.

The incoming president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has served notice that so-called Medical Assistance in Dying is a no-go for institutions and associations the operate under the Church’s name.

A new set of secret documents that the Fraser Health Authority tried but failed to keep from the public confirms that its board of directors overrode advice from its own experts in ordering that euthanasia be offered in all its facilities, including hospices and palliative-care wards.

A provincial adjudicator has ruled in favour of The B.C. Catholic newspaper and ordered the Fraser Health Authority to take the wraps off additional sections of secret documents related to the development and implementation of its controversial assisted-suicide policies and practices.

It has been just over seven years since Canadian law has permitted euthanasia and assisted suicide on demand. In those seven years restriction after restriction on euthanasia provision has fallen and now we stand on the threshold of euthanizing the mentally ill and permitting the as-yet-undefined “mature minor” to end his or her life. Euthanasia is now presented to patients as a health care option.

The appointment of a Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD) provider as Interim Clinical Director of Palliative Care at a Catholic hospital in Ontario has provoked renewed concern about the future of Catholic health care in Canada.