The Canadian Human Rights Commission and dozens of other organizations have brought concerns about Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) laws to the United Nations.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission “remains deeply concerned by ongoing reports that people with disabilities are turning to MAID because they cannot access the basic supports and services they need to live with dignity,” the commission wrote in a January submission to the UN. The submission was delivered to a UN committee studying Canada’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The convention is an international treaty that outlines what countries must do to recognize the human rights of people with disabilities.
Canada ratified the convention in 2010. But it is not consistently implemented into Canadian law. Instead, parts of the convention have been incorporated into various Canadian laws.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission advocates for and educates Canadians about their human rights and administers the Canada Human Rights Act.
In its submission to the UN, the commission said it “remains concerned about Canada’s lack of progress in implementing the recommendations that have come from the international human rights system.”
Many people with disabilities struggle to find adequate housing or medical care, or move to long-term care facilities to access needed supports, the submission says.
These factors may cause some people with disabilities to pursue MAID, the commission says.
“Accessing MAID should not be the result of this inequality, nor should it be the end result of the State’s failure to fulfill its human rights obligations,” the committee said, repeating concerns it has raised twice already in Canada.
‘Promoted with conviction’
Countries that ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are required to report every four years on their progress implementing its recommendations.
Organizations besides the government can also submit reports about their country’s progress fulfilling its treaty obligations.
A coalition of 49 organizations wrote one large submission criticizing Canada’s progress. Another 20 organizations — including the Canadian Human Rights Commission — wrote individual submissions.
A committee of disability experts reviews each country’s report and recommends how they can improve. Canada is scheduled to appear before this committee on March 10 and 11.
This is Canada’s first committee appearance since Canada created what is called Track 2 MAID in 2021. Track 2 MAID is for individuals who are incurably sick or disabled but whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable. Between 2021 and 2023, more than 1,300 Canadians died by Track 2 MAID.
Many organizations that wrote to the UN committee said Canada should abolish Track 2 MAID altogether, including a planned expansion of MAID in 2027 to adults whose only medical condition is a mental illness.
Track 2 MAID violates several convention rights, including the right to life, these organizations say.
“Track 2 MAID is positioned as health care serving to end suffering; it is therefore promoted with great conviction,” the coalition wrote. “In practice, people with disabilities in Canada are being denied their right to life.”
Track 2 MAID “normaliz[es] suicide,” the Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action wrote in its submission. It is based on the belief that it is better for some people with disabilities to be dead, the alliance said, calling it “a modern form of eugenics.”
‘Human flourishing’
The United Nations has previously raised concerns about Canada’s MAID laws endangering people with disabilities.
In its 2017 review of Canada’s implementation of the convention, the UN committee expressed “concerns” about MAID.
It recommended Canada collect detailed data about each MAID request and make sure safeguards are followed. It also recommended that people requesting MAID have access to a “dignified life” through palliative care, home care, disability support and “other measures that support human flourishing.”
In 2021, three UN UN human rights experts warned Ottawa that Track 2 MAID would violate Canada’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by creating a “social assumption … that it is better to be dead than live with a disability.”
The federal government’s most recent report to the committee cited federal reports that say most people who access MAID also received palliative care.
The report acknowledged many people with disabilities — but not all — are concerned about Track 2 MAID.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission says it wants the federal government to “conduct a thorough and critical review” of MAID in Canada before eligibility criteria is expanded. This review should include listening to and addressing concerns from people who are marginalized.
It also urged Ottawa to collect evidence to help explain who accesses MAID and why they do so.
“This is a crucial step in identifying and putting in place the required safeguards to ensure that people are not making this decision as a result of human rights harms that should have been addressed in other ways,” the commission’s submission says.
“In an era where we recognize the right to die with dignity, we must do more to realize the right to live with dignity.”
The United Nations will likely release its recommendations to the federal government March 18. The recommendations are not legally binding.
Leave a comment