The senator who pushed for CanadaB次元官网网址檚 assisted dying regime to include people whose only condition is a mental disorder says the debate about that policy is now over.

B次元官网网址淭he issue of expansion has already been decided upon,B次元官网网址� said Stan Kutcher, who sits with the Independent Senators Group.

As far as Kutcher is concerned, the what was determined two years ago, when his arguments in the Senate convinced the Liberal government to move forward with an expansion of eligibility.

ItB次元官网网址檚 just the when that recently came into question.

Last week, Parliament hastily passed a Liberal bill that has further delayed the expansion of assisted dying eligibility to people whose sole condition is a mental disorder.

In an interview, Kutcher said he supported the delay until March 2024 because it will allow proper training and practice standards to be made available to provincial regulatory bodies and practitioners.

Conservatives supported it, too. But they argue that the expansion should not happen in the first place, with Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre saying he would repeal it if he became prime minister. In the meantime, British Columbia MP Ed Fast has proposed a private memberB次元官网网址檚 bill to do the same.

Fast told reporters last week that he was concerned the Liberal government was B次元官网网址渕oving from a culture of life to a culture of death.B次元官网网址� Those suffering from mental disorders deserve mental health and social support and counselling, he said. B次元官网网址淭hey need to find some joy and some meaning in life.B次元官网网址�

But Kutcher, who was a leading psychiatrist before joining the Senate, urged Canadians to stop thinking about patients in this category as lacking agency.

B次元官网网址淛ust because an individual might belong to a group that is considered to be vulnerable, doesnB次元官网网址檛 mean that individual is vulnerable,B次元官网网址� he said.

And he invited those who think it is wrong to offer assisted dying to such patients to challenge the law at the Supreme Court: B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 know why theyB次元官网网址檙e not, if they have such strong feelings.B次元官网网址�

When the Liberal government was getting ready to pass its first major update to assisted dying law in 2021, it was initially reluctant to expand eligibility to people whose only condition is a mental disorder.

The legislation came in response to a 2019 Quebec Superior Court decision that struck down part of the original framework passed in 2016. The court found it was unconstitutional to only allow people whose death was B次元官网网址渞easonably foreseeableB次元官网网址� to apply for assisted dying.

The new law expanded eligibility to those who have a serious and incurable disease, illness or disability, were in an advanced state of decline and were suffering intolerably 鈦燘次元官网网址� even if their death was not imminently foreseeable.

Passing the bill was already going to put the federal government in better alignment with the criteria set out in the 2015 Supreme Court decision that had originally challenged the prohibition on assisted death as counter to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

But Kutcher recalled thinking that the government should go a step further to truly respect Charter rights.

B次元官网网址淚f you had Lou GehrigB次元官网网址檚 disease, or if you had severe ParkinsonB次元官网网址檚, you would be eligible to apply for and be treated humanely and thoughtfully, and critically, you would have an opportunity to apply for relief of your suffering,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淏ut if you had a mental illness, you would be excluded from such. B次元官网网址� I thought that that was a flagrant example of stigma and discrimination.B次元官网网址�

Kutcher convinced senators to amend the bill in the Senate and send it back to the House of Commons, writing an 18-month delay into the law so that practitioners could get ready for what would be a major change.

The government added another six months to the clock B次元官网网址� and, last week, another year B次元官网网址� but was otherwise persuaded. The Liberals are not expected to further delay the expansion. It will happen automatically on March 17, 2024, unless there is a change in government before then.

ThatB次元官网网址檚 a good thing, says Helen Long, chief executive officer of advocacy group Dying with Dignity Canada.

Without the SenateB次元官网网址檚 intervention, she said it is likely a legal challenge would have been launched arguing that the regime discriminated against people whose only condition is a mental disorder.

That legal challenge is a sure thing if the government doesnB次元官网网址檛 go forward with the expansion next year, she said.

Long said that some mental disorders are treatment resistant, just as some people cannot be cured of all their physical illnesses. The expansion, she said, is an equalizer, and will still requires people who only have a mental disorder to meet all of the other eligibility criteria.

She added that the ongoing political debate about the policy B次元官网网址渃ontinues to stigmatize those individuals,B次元官网网址� saying: B次元官网网址淛ust because you have a mental disorder does not mean you wonB次元官网网址檛 have capacity.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擠avid Fraser, The Canadian Press