[GTranslate]OTTAWA – After months of parliamentary debate, Canadians without a reasonably foreseeable death are now eligible to apply for medical assistance in dying (MAID).“On behalf of Canadians who were denied access under the existing MAID legislation, we are pleased that they will now be able to exercise their constitutionally-protected right to a peaceful death,” said Senator Jim Cowan (in the pic), chair of the board of directors at Dying With Dignity Canada.
“We thank parliamentarians who listened to the voices of suffering Canadians and moved this compassionate bill forward. We also commend the work of Justice Minister Lametti and Senators Petitclerc, whose leadership ensured a thorough and extensive debate on the bill and resulted in many thoughtful improvements to the legislation”.
“Passage of Bill C-7 is a result of the support and commitment of the thousands of Canadians across the country who made their voices heard. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to this success through letter writing, meetings with their MPs and Senators, education and sharing their personal stories”.
“While we honor the impact of this decision for Canadians, we know that our work is not done. Now that Bill C-7 has been passed, we’ll be turning our attention to both the parliamentary review that will study advance requests, and the expert review of mental illness ” said Helen Long, CEO at Dying With Dignity Canada.
The parliamentary review will also study the state of palliative care in Canada, the protection of people with disabilities, and access to MAID by mature minors and individuals whose sole medical condition is mental illness.
