(Staff) HEALTH Minister Mark Holland says Canada is not ready to expand eligibility for assisted death to people whose only medical condition is a mental illness.
He said the Liberal government agrees with the conclusion of a joint parliamentary committee report, released on Jan. 29, that more time is needed before such an expansion can happen. The report concluded that fundamental issues around the expansion have not yet been resolved.
The report stated: “Many practitioners remain concerned, particularly regarding the challenges of assessing irremediability.” There’s no clear way to predict whether someone with a mental illness will improve, nor how to handle factors like poverty that could exacerbate a mental illness.
Some witnesses told the committee about the difficulty in distinguishing requests for MAID from suicidal thoughts.
Critics of the expansion say there is nothing in law compelling the federal government to expand the system.
NDP MP Alistair MacGregor, one of the vice-chairs of the committee, said that the panel heard a wide range of perspectives about expanding MAID laws. Professionals such as psychologists and psychiatrists expressed discomfort with the way Canada’s laws are going on MAID. “That was quite remarkable,” MacGregor said.
The expansion is set to take effect on March 17. Legislation is required to change the timeline. The Liberals already legislated a one-year delay last year, saying at the time that medical providers and provinces needed more time to prepare.
The federal New Democrats say that they oppose the expansion until better supports are in place to help those struggling with mental illness.
Conservative MPs and senators on the committee said in a dissenting report that it would be “reckless and dangerous” for the Liberal government to allow the scheduled change to take place in March. They are asking the Liberals to abandon the expansion altogether. TAP
Late-breaking news: The federal government plans to pause euthanasia for mental illness until March, 2027.
IN THE GOSPEL LESSON for this first Sunday in Lent, we have Saint Matthew’s account of the temptations of Jesus. This lesson is clearly intended to establish in our minds the meaning and the message of the Lenten season, and we should examine it with careful attention. And perhaps before we do that, it would be useful to think for a moment about the background and context of the story.
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According to Jonathan Haidt’s and Greg Lukianoff’s book The Coddling of the American Mind, the spike in anxiety and depression is also related to “Great Untruths” that have spread across our culture, but are especially powerful among current college students born 1995 or later – Generation Z and Generation Alpha. These “Untruths” relate to Fragility, Emotional Reasoning and an Us vs. Them understanding of the world. Haidt and Lukianoff may be on to something.
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HAVE YOU EVER been envious of the shepherds that first Christmas night – when they had all those angels speaking to them, telling them about God – or felt how wonderful it would have been to be Mary and have God speak directly to you about his plans for your life?
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THE DIOCESE OF BRANDON has a new bishop-elect. On Nov. 25th the Ven. Rachael Parker was chosen on the second ballot by 21 clergy and 28 laity. She succeeds Bp Willliam Cliff who served the diocese for seven years from 2016–2023 and who is now Bishop of Ontario
(Staff) HEALTH Minister Mark Holland says Canada is not ready to expand eligibility for assisted death to people whose only medical condition is a mental illness.
He said the Liberal government agrees with the conclusion of a joint parliamentary committee report, released on Jan. 29, that more time is needed before such an expansion can happen. The report concluded that fundamental issues around the expansion have not yet been resolved.
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THE NEW Testament word for hospitality philo-xenia is a wonderful concept because it means the love of the xenia, the foreigner, the outsider. It’s a far more daring concept than friendship philia, which is the love of your own kind, your kindred. Philo-xenia is the fruit and mirror of the gospel, where God welcomes us, the outsider, the foreigner
Ephraim Radner, professor emeritus of historical theology at Wycliffe College in Toronto, is author of A Time to Keep: Theology, Mortality, and the Shape of a Human Life (Baylor, 2016). An Anglican cleric, he has served as a missionary in Burundi and Haiti, and taught and pastored in the United States. He spoke with Faith Today’s Bill Fledderus about death and birth, and why he views it as essential for Christians to oppose medically assisted dying.
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