Canadian member of Parliament from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member's bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone. / Credit: ParlVu screen image
Vancouver, Canada, Jul 2, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Canadian member of Parliament (MP) from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia, Tamara Jansen, has introduced a private member's bill to stop the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) for mental illness alone.
Jansen's Bill C-218 would amend the criminal code to prevent mental disorders from being considered a "grievous and irremediable medical condition" for the purposes of MAID.
The bill was read a first time in the House of Commons on June 20 and is scheduled for second reading at the next sitting of the House.
Speaking in the House, Jansen said: "Imagine your son or daughter battling depression for some time, after losing a job or maybe a broken relationship. Imagine they feel the loss so deep that they're convinced the world would be better off without them."
Starting March 27, 2027, such Canadians "could walk into a doctor's office and ask them to end their life," she said.
"That's not a future scenario, that's the law right now waiting to take effect."
The Justin Trudeau government delayed expansion until 2024 and again until March 17, 2027, over concerns from medical and legal experts.
"Clinical experts have warned that there's no evidence-based way to determine if someone with a mental illness would get better, and most do," Jansen said. "But still the government is moving forward."
Jansen said the proposed law sends a message to "struggling Canadians, trauma survivors, those battling depression, schizophrenia, PTSD" that "death is a solution we're now willing to offer" in response to suffering.
"That's not health care. That's not compassion. It's abandonment."
She told MPs: "Mental illness is treatable. Recovery is possible, but only if we show up and help."
Jansen's bill is similar to 2023 legislation that was narrowly defeated in Parliament but delayed implementation of the federal law.
Conservative MP Ed Fast of Abbotsford, British Columbia, introduced Bill C-314, which would have stopped the expansion of Canada's euthanasia regime. It was defeated at second reading on Oct. 18, 2023, by a 167-150 vote.
Fast gathered cross-party support for his legislation, with all 24 New Democratic Party (NDP) members voting in favor of his bill and eight members of the Liberal Party breaking ranks from their colleagues. The Bloc Québécois held the balance of power on the vote, as each of its members voted against the Abbotsford, British Columbia, representative's endeavor.
During the oral question period preceding the vote, Fast condemned reports "of Canadians crying out for help and being offered assisted suicide instead."
He attacked "the sorry state of our mental health system," saying: "Millions of Canadians oppose the government's fascination with assisted death."
A Christian political advocacy group praised Jansen's bill and called on MPs to support it regardless of party.
"Canada can never be ready to offer MAID for mental illness," said Daniel Zekveld, a policy analyst with the Association for Reformed Political Action Canada. "Doing so would undermine suicide prevention efforts and mental health care. Canada cannot promote suicide prevention while at the same time offering suicide assistance as a solution for mental illness."
Zekveld said: "Since Parliament's last delay of the mental illness expansion, we've seen more stories of people who are suffering and unable to access necessary supports and care being offered MAID."
Offering euthanasia to people for mental illness implies "there is no hope of recovery and normalizes suicide as a solution for suffering," Zekveld said. "But psychiatrists tell us they cannot reliably diagnose mental illness as irremediable. Canadians with mental illness need hope and support, not euthanasia or assisted suicide."
Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition said if Bill C-218 is to pass, politicians need to hear from Canadians. He is asking people to send their mental health stories and share what would have happened had MAID been available at the time. Stories can be sent to info@epcc.ca.
This story was first published by The B. C. Catholic and is reprinted here with permission.
