For immediate release from the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada
October 7, 2026
Ottawa, ON – Today, Justice Minister Sean Fraser announced the federal government’s plans for medical assistance in dying.
That plan includes voting against Bill C-218, a private members’ bill that would repeal the upcoming expansion of MAID for those with mental illness as their only underlying condition.
“Whether through Bill C-218 or through government legislation, it is critical that Parliament stop the expansion of MAID to mental illness as soon as possible,” said ARPA’s Policy Analyst Daniel Zekveld.
However, Minister Fraser noted that the government will also allow MAID by advance request in forthcoming legislation.
Advance requests would allow a person diagnosed with an illness like Alzheimer’s or dementia to consent in advance to being euthanized after they have lost the capacity to consent.
“The government acknowledges that excluding MAID for mental illness is necessary and urgent. It should not hold the mental illness exclusion hostage to an amendment to permit advance requests for MAID, which Parliament has not studied extensively, and which will take time to properly assess,” Zekveld said. “Protecting Canadians with mental illness from MAID should not come at the expense of Canadians with dementia and other capacity-limiting illnesses.”
Zekveld continued, “While the federal Joint Committee on MAID engaged in a focused study on MAID for mental illness earlier this year, they did not address the question of advance requests. Advance requests have not received the level of scrutiny and legislative debate that MAID for mental illness has.”
Zekveld noted, “Advance consent is not fully informed consent, since a person with a diagnosis of dementia has never lived through the future stages of the condition and cannot know what their life will be like in the future. Persons with dementia do not need greater access to MAID. They need appropriate supports and care so that they do not feel like a burden or experience isolation and loneliness.”
Just last year, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recommended that Canada not expand MAID to include mental illness or advance requests.
“Expanding MAID to include advance requests normalizes death for dementia and devalues the lives of Canadians with capacity-limiting illnesses,” said Zekveld. At the very least, the government ought to introduce two separate bills, so that Parliament can properly study and assess any proposal to legalize MAID by advance requests.”
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For further comment or interviews, please contact Daniel Zekveld at [email protected], or at 1-866-691-2772
The Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada has a long history of involvement with euthanasia laws and policies in Canada. ARPA was granted intervenor standing at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Carter case in 2016. They have also provided a variety of policy reports, research, and analysis on the topic. In 2020, ARPA launched the Care Not Kill campaign, a national grassroots initiative that educates Canadians on the harms of euthanasia and equips them to engage respectfully on this sensitive topic.
