Canadian Catholic bishops join members of Parliament in push to restrict medical aid in dying

Two legislative efforts to limit Canada’s medical aid in dying (MAID) framework converged Thursday, with Conservative member of Parliament (MP) Garnett Genuis announcing a bill focused on MAID coercion and the Catholic bishops supporting legislation to prohibit assisted dying for mental illness.

Genuis introduced a private member’s bill Feb. 5 that would amend the Criminal Code to prohibit any federal or provincial government employee in a position of authority, other than a doctor or nurse, from initiating a discussion about medical aid in dying.

Genuis said Bill C-260, “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying — protection against coercion),” comes in response to numerous stories of counselors suggesting MAID to persons such as military veterans or disabled men and women who are seeking support, not death.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) issued a statement the same day strongly supporting Langley MP Tamara Jansen’s private member’s Bill C-218, which would prevent persons whose sole medical condition is mental illness from accessing euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (MAID).

The statement from the CCCB’s permanent council, its most authoritative body between annual plenary assemblies, said Bill C-218 “would be a constructive step” toward limiting euthanasia and protecting individuals with mental illness.

The bishops noted the U.N. Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has called on Canada to rescind “Track 2 MAID,” which allows euthanasia for those whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, and to permanently exclude MAID for persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness.

The bishops also called on the federal government “to allow free conscience voting on this matter, given its profound moral and social implications.”

They said current research indicates mental illness is “not necessarily irremediable” and called for improved access to mental illness treatment and palliative care.

At a news conference in Ottawa, Genuis said his Bill C-260 would clarify MAID laws by explicitly covering coercive situations such as counseling sessions.

The member of Parliament for Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan said the bill is aimed at countering the “discrimination and coercion” that “undermine the experience of persons trying to access supports that they are entitled to.”

He cited the example of Nicolas Bergeron, a 46-year-old Quebec man who was not interested in medically-facilitated death. “But a social worker, who came to his house for an entirely different reason, repeatedly tried to push him to change his mind,” Genuis said.

Genuis said the counselor presented Bergeron with “a very bleak, worst-case scenario for his illness and told him that sometimes you just have to stop fighting … This is wrong and this is not a one-off. This MAID coercion by nonexperts in positions of authority is part of a troubling pattern.”

The bill states: “Every person who, being an officer or employee of the government of Canada or of a province, other than a medical practitioner or a registered nurse, including a nurse practitioner, initiates a discussion with a person about the availability to that person of medical assistance in dying is guilty of an offense punishable on summary conviction if they (a) by virtue of their profession, are in a position of trust or authority towards that person; and
(b) know that the person has not specifically requested to have such a discussion with them.”

While current law requires that a request for MAID be voluntary and free from external pressure, supporters of the bill argue that consent can be compromised when individuals feel they have no meaningful alternatives to relieve their suffering. Supporters say inadequate access to palliative care, disability supports, mental health treatment, or stable housing amounts to “systemic coercion.”

The Criminal Code in Canada currently requires that individuals requesting MAID give informed consent and be advised of available means to relieve suffering, including palliative care. Proponents of Bill C-260 argue that explicitly naming coercion in the MAID context would make it a more enforceable criminal consideration rather than relying primarily on administrative checks and professional judgment.

Genuis has repeatedly argued that MAID cannot be considered a genuine choice when people lack access to life-affirming supports. That concern was underscored during a House of Commons committee exchange last fall with Krista Carr, chief executive officer of Inclusion Canada.

Appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, Carr told MPs that people with disabilities are already being placed at a disadvantage by public policy decisions that erode supports. Asked by Genuis whether people with disabilities would be “net worse off” as a result of proposed changes to disability tax credits, Carr replied: “Yes. I think it’s an unintended consequence of a bill meant to make life more affordable for Canadians. As a consequence of that, yes, in a net position they will be worse off than they are now.”

The bill is being introduced amid ongoing debate over the scope and safeguards of Canada’s MAID regime, particularly for people whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable. Disability advocates and organizations, including Inclusion Canada, have repeatedly warned that the expansion of MAID has outpaced the development of adequate social supports, placing people in precarious living situations at risk.

As a private member’s bill, Bill C-260 must pass second reading in the House of Commons before proceeding to committee study.

This story was first published by The B.C. Catholic on Feb. 5, 2026, and is reprinted here with permission.

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/americas/canadian-catholic-bishops-join-members-of-parliament-in-push-to-restrict-maid