Federal MAID expansion to people with mental illness too extreme: advocate

When Tammy Peters realized her purpose was to help others, it gave her strength to continue fighting her terminal disease and depression.

The 56-year-old was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy in 2023. The disease attacks the body’s muscular system and causes muscles to gradually weaken over time. There’s no cure for the disease.

While she’s fought the disease, Peters, who lives in Steinbach, has struggled with depression as it has progressed.

“I’m terminal. My body is giving away,” Peters told The Carillon. “Sometimes you don’t want to be a burden for people.”

She’s considered Medical Assistance in Dying as a way to be free of the pain. But after thinking about the impact it might have on her loved ones and seeing how her volunteer work was giving life to others, she decided against it.

“I’m here for a reason, and one of those reasons is to speak for people that can’t speak for themselves,” Peters said.

In July, Ontario Conservative MP Andrew Lawton launched the a new campaign to support a private member’s bill called the Right to Recover Act.

The act seeks to stop the planned expansion of MAID to people experiencing mental illnesses. That expansion comes into effect in March 2027, after legislation was passed February 2024.

Multiple groups, including The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, opposed the legislation. In a November 2024 statement to a parliamentary committee, the mental health organization said its main concerns were that guidelines and resources for determining MAID eligibility weren’t in place. It said more time is needed because Canadian health care isn’t equipped for the expansion.

Conservative MP for Provencher Ted Falk believes the expansion is wrong and needs to be stopped.

Many people with mental illness are vulnerable and susceptible to being influenced, and having the choice available for MAID is dangerous, he said.

“It’s harmful for our society. Society can be judged by how we protect the most vulnerable folks in our communities. And I think people experiencing mental illness are some of the most vulnerable people,” he said.

He said more mental health supports, such as counseling and medication, are needed to help people “overcome their mental illness.”

While the expansion is too extreme, blocking all mental illness cases from MAID isn’t a good decision either, Peters said. People need to be treated on a case-by-case basis because everyone’s circumstances are different, she added.

She believes there are some cases where it would be “cruel” to force a person to stay alive if a condition, such as schizophrenia, is so severe that medication or other treatment won’t work.

“What really scares me is if they (the government) just make a blank ruling and say ‘This is for everybody.’” Peters said. “Well, not everybody falls into the same categories. Not everybody’s life is the same.”

There needs to be thorough medical and psychological assessments if someone decides to pursue MAID to make sure all alternative treatments have been explored, she said.

Peters worries that someone might use MAID when another treatment or resource was available for them.

“What if somebody decides that they want to not be here anymore and end their lives, and it wasn’t what they really wanted,” she said. “What they really needed was just more support, more counseling or maybe medications changed.”

Peters said the quality of mental health care across Canada needs to be improved to help people when they feel like MAID is their only option for relief.

“I’m a prime example of how situations can change,” she said. “Sometimes, if you keep trucking, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”