Trudeau Liberals, along with Bloc and NDP, vote down euthanasia exclusion for mentally ill

Sheila Gunn Reid
  |   October 20, 2023   |   Be the first to comment

The Conservative bill to amend Canada's existing medical assistance in dying protocols would have prevented the mentally ill from accessing doctor-assisted suicide. MP Ed Fast's Bill C-314 was voted down Wednesday night in the House of Commons.

Bill C-314 would have prevented mental illnesses from being included as a "grievous and irredeemable" medical condition qualifying Canadians to access government-enabled euthanasia.

Not just the Conservatives supported Fast's proposed law. As CPC MP Arnold Viersen points out, some Liberals voted for common-sense protections for people experiencing mental illness and other psychological disorders.

Eight Liberals broke ranks with the party to protect vulnerable Canadians from their own party's bizarre fascination with death.

The fall of the bill in a 167-150 vote means that in March 2024, as Fast put it, "Canadians who are crying out for help" could be offered death as a remedy to their anguish.

The vote in the Commons demonstrates the Liberal government's progressive extremism on the issue. A recent Angus Reid poll found that 82% of Canadians wanted mental health support improved before assisted suicide was offered to people whose single underlying condition for seeking medical help in dying was mental illness.

The Veterans Affairs ministry came under fire for reports of case workers offering as many as nine Canadian veterans medical help to die, rather than the care they are entitled to as veterans.

In Canada, a foreseeable death is no longer required to access medical death from the state, and in many instances, the 10-day wait period has been removed. According to the Government of Canada:

To be considered as having a grievous and irremediable medical condition, you must meet all of the following criteria. You must:
  • have a serious illness, disease or disability
  • be in an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed
  • experience unbearable physical or mental suffering from your illness, disease, disability or state of decline that cannot be relieved under conditions that you consider acceptable

You do not need to have a fatal or terminal condition to be eligible for medical assistance in dying.
If your only medical condition is a mental illness, you are not eligible for medical assistance in dying until March 17, 2024.
If you have a mental illness along with other medical conditions, you may be eligible for medical assistance in dying.

To send a message to the Canadian government that suffering Canadians need help to live, not help to die, visit www.HelpNotHomicide.com.

Sheila Gunn Reid

Chief Reporter

Sheila Gunn Reid is the Alberta Bureau Chief for Rebel News and host of the weekly The Gunn Show with Sheila Gunn Reid. She's a mother of three, conservative activist, and the author of best-selling books including Stop Notley.

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