{"id":281198,"date":"2022-12-10T13:49:20","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T19:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=281198"},"modified":"2022-12-08T19:59:29","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T01:59:29","slug":"canada-justice-minister-euthanasia-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canada-justice-minister-euthanasia-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"Canada’s Justice Minister: ‘Euthanasia is for people who can’t commit suicide themselves’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Canada’s Justice Minister\u00a0David Lametti recently suggested that Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD), the country’s legalized euthanasia, is available as a tool for those who would likely have committed suicide anyway. Lametti’s comments came during an interview on Toronto Star’s\u00a0podcast<\/a>, “It’s Political.”<\/p>\n

During the interview, host Althia Raj expressed reservations about expanding MAiD to include those with mental illness. Lametti told her to \u201cremember that suicide generally is available to people. This is a group within the population who, for physical reasons and possibly mental reasons, can\u2019t make that choice themselves to do it themselves. And ultimately, this provides a more humane way for them to make a decision they otherwise could have made if they were able in some other way.”<\/p>\n

As Raj later reported<\/a>, Lametti received significant backlash for his comments, including from those who are otherwise in favor of assisted suicide and euthanasia.<\/p>\n

\u201cMAID has nothing to do with helping people who are not capable of suicide,\u201d said psychiatrist Derryck Smith, an emeritus professor at the University of British Columbia. \u201cThe two are quite different, so I think he\u2019s confused in his own mind about what this whole issue is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Smith called Lametti’s comments\u00a0\u201cterrible,\u201d \u201cvery distressing,\u201d \u201cso misinformed,\u201d and \u201cunbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Mishara, the director of the Centre for Research and Intervention on Suicide, Ethical Issues and End-of-Life Practices at the Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec in Montreal, expressed concern that Lametti appeared to be treating MAiD in the same way as other medical treatments that should be widely available.\u00a0\u201cIt scares the hell out of me,\u201d Mishara said.<\/p>\n

Canada is poised to allow euthanasia and assisted suicide for mental illness in March 2023. While Lametti has been pressured to delay the expansion due to concerns that medical professionals are not ready to allow mental health patients to decide to legally end their own lives, he has resisted calls to put the expansion on hold.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you willing to put the brakes on that expansion until, clearly, we get some guidelines in place that protect vulnerable Canadians?\u201d MP Rob Moore asked Lametti<\/a> during testimony at a House of Commons committee Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is up to the medical profession to ensure that those standards are met. It\u2019s up to the medical profession to underline that MAiD is about individual choice for people who qualify under the criteria that are there,\u201d Lametti responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have put a great deal of resources into the system, but we will continue to monitor your concerns, concerns that are being raised by Canadians,\u201d he told MPs. \u201cWe\u2019ll work in good faith to make sure that Canadians are ready for mental disorder as a sole criterion for seeking MAiD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Canada’s Justice Minister\u00a0David Lametti recently suggested that Medical Aid in Dying (MAiD), the country’s legalized euthanasia, is available as a tool for those who would likely have committed suicide anyway. Lametti’s comments came during an interview on Toronto Star’s\u00a0podcast, “It’s Political.” During the interview, host Althia Raj expressed reservations about expanding MAiD to include those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":172509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[5,4,3473],"tags":[1303],"yoast_head":"\nCanada's Justice Minister: 'Euthanasia is for people who can't commit suicide themselves'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Canada's Justice Minister suggested that euthanasia is available as a tool for those who would likely have committed suicide anyway.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/canada-justice-minister-euthanasia-suicide\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" 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