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Parliamentary committee on assisted dying biased, not focused on mandate, expert says
Downie says the committee has heard mostly opponents and risks making an incomplete policy decision on the planned MAID expansion.
- On Thursday, Dalhousie University law professor Jocelyn Downie warned the parliamentary committee reviewing MAID has "gone off the rails," arguing it ignores its mandate by hearing unbalanced testimony instead of focusing on readiness.
- The committee's mandate is to assess if Canada is ready for the March 2027 extension, yet co-chairs Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski and Conservative Sen. Yonah Martin are both openly opposed to the policy.
- During a Tuesday meeting, Sen. Pamela Wallin noted "the testimony has been quite imbalanced," while The Canadian Psychiatric Association, which developed clinical guidance for MAID assessments, has not been invited to testify.
- Witness Christopher Lyon called MAID "a legal form of serial killing" on Tuesday, which Wallin rejected; Downie cautioned that spending committee time "relitigating" existing law is "entirely inappropriate."
- A 2024 review saw three senators claim the committee "failed to do its work objectively and in an unbiased manner," raising concerns that relying on incomplete evidence now risks flawed public policy ahead of the 2027 rollout.
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13 Articles
13 Articles
The Toronto Star+11 Reposted by 11 other sources
Parliamentary committee on assisted dying biased, not focused on mandate, expert says
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
·Toronto, Canada
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Total News Sources13
Leaning Left6Leaning Right0Center5Last UpdatedBias Distribution55% Left
Bias Distribution
- 55% of the sources lean Left
55% Left
L 55%
C 45%
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