John Scully wants to know that a medically-assisted death would be an option for him, should he want one.
The former war correspondent suffers from severe mental illness, a mix of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety.
He is speaking out again as the Liberals face a looming decision about whether to proceed with an expansion of medically assisted dying currently set to take effect in March.
Medical assistance in dying has been legal in Canada since 2016. In 2021 Parliament approved expanding the eligibility criteria to include those with a mental disorder as their sole underlying condition.
That change was to come into effect in March 2023 but just before it did, the Liberal government paused it for another year in the face of widespread concerns over possible consequences.
Opponents to the change, including some disability advocates, have expressed concern over whether it will further open the door to abuse and coercion, and that people will choose to end their lives when what they really need is better access to support, including housing and mental health care.
A joint committee of parliamentarians was asked last fall to study the question whether the health-care system was ready and the Liberals now face the choice of whether to go ahead with broadening the rules.
Justice Minister Arif Virani told The Canadian Press last month he would look carefully at what the committee recommends, opening the door to once again pausing the plan to expand eligibility.
Scully says he regularly experiences terrible nightmares, which he says leave him sleep deprived and are a result of his career as a journalist.
The 82-year-old has tried, as he puts it, B次元官网网址渆very single method of treatment known science,B次元官网网址� and nothing has worked. He has tried to kill himself twice and doesnB次元官网网址檛 want to again.
B次元官网网址淚 want some peace and I want some quiet in my death,B次元官网网址� he said in an interview Monday.
What Scully wants is the option to die with medical assistance.
B次元官网网址淣ot as a definitive, B次元官网网址業 want to die now.B次元官网网址� I want it there as an option to suicide,B次元官网网址� he says.
B次元官网网址淚 want the comfort of knowing that (medically assisted dying) is there for me and for all the people like me who cannot or donB次元官网网址檛 want to speak out about the suffering and the hell theyB次元官网网址檙e going through B次元官网网址� and to avoid the hell of suicide.B次元官网网址�
Sen. Stan Kutcher, a psychiatrist from Nova Scotia, argued in favour of expanding the law to include mental illnesses. He sat on the committee which studied the issue last year and said he believes the courts have ruled that Canadians should have access to medical assistance in dying on a case-by-case basis. He said he expects CanadaB次元官网网址檚 attorney general B次元官网网址渨ould adhere to the Charter.B次元官网网址�
But while the senator and other proponents of the expansion say excluding those with mental disorders amounts to discrimination and would likely lead to a future court challenge, one constitutional law expert says there remain B次元官网网址渂ig question marksB次元官网网址� on that issue.
B次元官网网址淎nyone can bring a case, anyone can bring a Charter challenge,B次元官网网址� says Kerri Froc, a law professor at the University of New Brunswick.
B次元官网网址淭he question is, is it going to succeed?B次元官网网址�
Froc was among legal and medical experts to submit briefs before the committee of MPs and senators studying the issue, saying in hers that any potential court challenge on the question of whether mental illness alone could qualify a person for a medically assisted death would be B次元官网网址渉ighly contingentB次元官网网址� on the set of facts presented.
Froc says she disagrees with arguments that such a future challenge would amount to a B次元官网网址渟lam dunk.B次元官网网址�
Still, others such Jocelyn Downie, a professor at HalifaxB次元官网网址檚 Dalhousie University, told The Canadian Press last month that another delay on the expansion could force individuals who are suffering intolerably to have to go to court, as others have in the past.
The federal government moved to legalized medical assistance in dying after a 2015 Supreme Court of Canada decision, which ruled the part of the Criminal Code prohibiting doctors from doing so to be unconstitutional in situations where a person was suffering with a B次元官网网址済rievous and irremediable medical condition,B次元官网网址� whether it be from an illness, disease or disability.
The updated law Parliament passed in 2021 was also in response to a 2019 court decision, from the Superior Court of Qu茅bec that found it was unconstitutional to make it a requirement that medically-assisted dying be limited to someone whose natural death was B次元官网网址渞easonably foreseeable.B次元官网网址�
But during debate over a bill introduced to amend medically assisted dying legislation to reflect that court decision, the Senate added an amendment to include those whose sole reason for seeking an assisted death to be a mental disorder. The House of Commons accepted that change and the bill passed.
The reaction was swift.
More than 30 law professors signed an open letter last year which said it was B次元官网网址渞ecklessB次元官网网址� to suggest that a constitutional right to assisted dying for such patients would be recognized by the courts.
Scully said Monday that if the federal Liberals decide to delay that expansion again, the only option it would leave him wanting to die would be suicide.
He says it would also amount to a B次元官网网址渂etrayal of every person who is desperately mentally ill.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭o tell me that hereB次元官网网址檚 hope around the corner for me B次元官网网址� IB次元官网网址檝e looked around the corner and thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing there. There is no hope.B次元官网网址�
If you feel like you are in crisis or are considering suicide, please call the Crisis Centre BC suicide hotline at 1-800-784-2433.
Other resources include: Canada Suicide Prevention Service at Toll free: 1-833-456-4566. You can also text 45645 or visit the online chat service at
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