Tell your Member of Parliament to respect our end-of-life rights:
Advance requests are critical to giving people across Canada peace of mind.
Unwanted suffering is wrong
In March 2021, Bill C-7 — which included key amendments to Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) legislation — was passed into law.
Although Bill C-7 expanded access to MAID to include individuals whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable, many people still aren’t eligible because they are in the early stages of a capacity-eroding condition — such as dementia, Parkinson’s, or Huntington’s disease – and cannot put in place an advance request for MAID.
In practice, an advance request would allow someone to make a formal request for an assisted death before experiencing intolerable suffering from a known grievous and irremediable condition, disease, or disorder.
Then if, at some point, this person loses the capacity to make medical decisions for themselves — and, importantly, reaches a point where their suffering becomes unbearable — this formal request would be honoured.
An advance request could save a person from having to endure years — perhaps even decades — of unwanted suffering.
Your end-of-life rights must be respected
The lack of access to advance requests is a critical gap in our country’s assisted dying legislation — and must be corrected.
With your help, we’re calling on decision-makers to respect all peoples’ end-of-life rights by supporting advance requests for assisted dying.
The time to act is now
After years of advocating for this option, we are closer than ever to having advance requests permitted under the law. With the completion of the Parliamentary Review, we are pleased that a recommendation to allow advance requests for those with a diagnosis of a serious or incurable condition, disease, or disorder leading to incapacity has been made. However, the release of the Final Report, Medical Assistance in Dying – Choices for Canadians, does not mean that advance requests are legal. An amendment to the Criminal Code has yet to be formally legislated. This is the final step needed in order for advance requests to be permitted.
Tell your Member of Parliament as well as the Ministers of Health and Justice to move swiftly with the legalization of advance requests, so that those who wish to can make a request for MAID while they still have the capacity and autonomy to do so. We can’t lose momentum now.
Empower. Inform. Protect your rights.