AMENDMENT TO BILL C7
Updated: May 2, 2022
The Resolution and Legislation Committee would like to bring your attention to Bill C7 which was passed March 17, 2021 and will be amended in March 2023.
Maid is publicly funded and has been made a health care right by the federal government which implies that it operates under the same guidelines across the country Palliative care is the responsibility of the provincial health care system and is addressed differently in each province. This reveals a disconnect of responsibility.
Bill C7 removed the requirement that death be in the reasonably foreseeable future.
Bill C7 has two tracks, one for those whose death is foreseeable and track two for those who have severe longterm conditions.
Track 1, for those whose death is reasonably foreseeable, Bill C7 removed the requirement of a ten day reflection period. (Could now be only 1 day). It reduces witnesses of the request from two persons to one, and that person can be a paid health professional.
Track 2 allows MAID for those who have severe long term condition or disability. Although these persons will be legally informed of treatment options, there will no longer be any requirement to attempt those other treatments before choosing MAID. (We will be the only country in the world to offer MAID as a first level treatment). After consent there will be a 90 day reflection period before administering MAID.
Two years after Bill C7 is passed, it will allow people with mood disorders to choose MAID. There was a “sunset clause” added to the bill so that proper safeguards and requirements for MAID under such circumstances will be put to committee, studied and decided upon during that time.
In Bill C7 it is possible to see a prejudice of “Ableism” present whereby handicapped persons are regarded as being unable to have a good quality of life. Disability rights advocates are concerned that Track 2 will encourage MAID to be favoured over expensive supports for the disabled or those with severe long term chronic conditions. There is also concern over what safeguards and requirements will be determined in the ‘sunset clause”.
**Ableism – Discrimination in favour of able-bodied people.
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