Parliamentary committee on assisted dying biased, not focused on mandate, expert says

A screen displays a patient's vital signs during open heart surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore on Nov. 28, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Patrick Semansky

OTTAWA — An expert on Canada’s assisted dying laws says a parliamentary committee studying MAID in cases of mental illness is not focused on its mandate and has not been balanced in its approach.

Jocelyn Downie is a professor emeritus of law at Dalhousie University who has studied assisted dying laws for decades.

She was a witness at the first meeting last month of senators and MPs studying whether Canada is ready to extend assisted dying to people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness.

By law, that extension is set to happen in March of next year.

Downie says the committee’s co-chairs are both openly opposed to the extension, as are most of the witnesses the committee has called so far.

She’s also warning the committee is not focused on its mandate, which is limited to whether the country is ready for next year’s extension, and is instead hearing testimony from people opposed to assisted dying in general.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2026.

Sarah Ritchie, The Canadian Press