Disability organizations are praising a United Nations committee’s recommendation that Canada stop allowing medically assisted deaths for people whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable.
“We are absolutely thrilled,” said Krista Carr, chief executive officer of Inclusion Canada, a national organization that advocates for people with intellectual disabilities.
“In many ways, this really vindicates the community who have been fighting this all along.”
On March 21, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities wrote that it is “extremely concerned” about Canada’s Track 2 MAID laws.
Track 2 MAID is for people with incurable illnesses or disabilities who are suffering, but whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable. It was legalized in 2021. Between 2021 and 2023, there were more than 1,300 Track 2 MAID deaths in Canada.
The UN committee told Canada to stop Track 2 MAID altogether, including the planned 2027 expansion to people whose sole condition is a mental illness. It also told Canada not to proceed with advance requests for MAID, which have been allowed in Quebec since October for people with dementia.
‘State-sponsored eugenics’
Earlier this month, government representatives and civil society organizations — including Inclusion Canada — appeared at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. They were there to discuss Canada’s compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Canada ratified the convention in 2010. But it has not been formally implemented into Canadian law and is incorporated inconsistently in various laws across the country.
Before the meeting, numerous organizations wrote to the UN, detailing concerns about Canada’s implementation of the convention. Many groups argued Track 2 MAID violates the right to life for people with disabilities.
During hearings with the government, the UN committee echoed these concerns. Rosemary Kayess, the committee’s vice-chair, repeatedly raised concerns about Track 2 MAID. She asked government representatives why they did not see Track 2 MAID as a “step back into state-sponsored eugenics.”
“How is Track 2 MAID not state-sponsored euthanasia?” she asked. She noted concerns the committee has heard about people with disabilities applying for MAID because they struggle to meet their basic needs.
In response, government representatives spoke about the eligibility requirements for MAID and cited Ottawa’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan, a federal strategy to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
Canadian Affairs reached out to Health Canada for a response to the UN’s recommendations.
Health Canada spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau provided Canadian Affairs with a statement that described how MAID is a shared responsibility of federal and provincial governments and listed the eligibility criteria for Track 2 MAID. The statement repeated that MAID for people whose only medical condition is mental illness is scheduled for legalization in 2027.
Causes of suffering
In its recommendations, the UN took aim at Canada’s decision to legalize Track 2 MAID. Track 2 MAID was legalized in 2021 after a lower Quebec court ruled that restricting MAID to people with reasonably foreseeable deaths was unconstitutional.
The committee “noted with concern” that the federal government never appealed that decision. The Quebec decision “fundamentally changed” MAID laws, the committee wrote. It assumes that suffering is inherent to disabilities themselves and not caused by the barriers people with disabilities face.
The committee also said the emphasis of personal choice in discussions about MAID creates a “false dichotomy.” The Canadian government will provide suffering people with disabilities access to death, without making sure they have the supports they need to live, the commission wrote.
Canadian law requires people who request Track 2 MAID to be informed about measures like disability supports or counselling that could relieve their suffering. They are not legally required to use these services.
Last fall, Inclusion Canada and other disability organizations launched a constitutional challenge arguing Track 2 MAID endangers the lives of people with disabilities by making it easier for them — but not people who do not have disabilities — to access premature deaths.
Mature minors
The UN committee also recommended Canada not consider allowing MAID for mature minors. No legislation to do so has been introduced.
However, in 2023, a House of Commons-Senate committee recommended Canada legalize MAID for mature minors with reasonably foreseeable deaths.
Dying with Dignity Canada, a charity that advocates for MAID access, released a statement expressing disappointment with the UN committee’s recommendations.
The committee is “unclear in its specific concerns on MAID for those whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness, mature minors, and advance requests — three distinct avenues to MAID that should not be conflated,” the statement says.
“The effect of structural vulnerability on the lives of Canadians is a valid concern, but repealing MAID is not a solution,” the statement says. Governments should focus on providing housing, food security, dental care and pharmacare instead, the statement says.
Carr, at Inclusion Canada, says the UN’s report addresses many concerns about how people with disabilities are treated in Canada.
“They really hit the nail on the head,” she said.
– the UN committee is a sham designed to give the appearance of upholding disability rights.
– “Inclusion Canada” and “Disability without poverty” are both UN funded groups whose job is to assist the UN in maintaining the illusion of disability rights, not actually uphold those rights.
– the UN is responsible for the eugenic genocide programs in Canada and other countries, by funding lobby groups like DWDC and by infiltrating governments with pro-eugenics operatives, In the UK the UN funds “Dignity in Dying” who are pushing to start their own eugenics program, while its operative politicians order funding for seniors and disabled to be slashed.
– the same Canadian human rights concerns have been reported to the UN repeatedly and all they have done every time is issue toothless “recommendations”.
– if the UN truly wanted to protect the rights of the disabled, they would impose sanctions on countries like Canada that commit human rights violations and genocide against the disabled.
– if the UN can impose sanctions against countries like South Africa for violating the rights of blacks, they can impose sanctions on behalf of disabled Canadians. The fact that they aren’t doing this proves their real agenda – worldwide eugenic genocide, extermination of the useless eaters.
– it’s disgraceful that this article gives the last word to the UN funded ghouls who are promoting and lobbying for the eugenic mass murder of disabled Canadians. By doing so you are rewarding murderers and giving them a soapbox, when they all belong in prison.
Wow. Just wow. Powerful words. The MAID laws are a difficult for sure. Even when a person has a sure diagnosis of a painful, near death, it is still traumatic for loved ones to experience it. If my Mom were alive today she would have signed up for an advanced request and would have been able to avoid the last two to four difficult years of her life when she died at 94. It’s important to remember that most people who are determined to die can find a way. I know of one situation like that, (mental health) and it was also heartbreaking for the family.
We cannot solve one injustice by creating another is very true.
Not all situations are equal. I plan on receiving maid if I am suffering. It doesn’t make sense to extend life if in pain. One cannot live forever, and I don’t want someone hauling me around. I want it written in to my will.
Am 83. Bravo to my country for the MAID program. We cannot be bullied by anti euthanasia voices.