Institutional religious obstructions in British Columbia
Seeking access to MAID is an individual decision and a constitutional right that should be respected at all publicly funded health care facilities.
Medical assistance in dying (MAID) has been legal in Canada since 2016. Even with changes to ensure access through Bill C-7, many people across Canada are being denied access to MAID because of artificial restrictions put in place by some publicly funded providers. In British Columbia, one such restriction is in the form of an outdated agreement that allows taxpayer-funded health care facilities an exemption from providing certain services. The agreement, between the provincial government and the Denominational Health Association (DHA), known as the Master Agreement, allows DHA member facilities to collect billions in taxpayer dollars and to refuse to allow health care services that they find objectionable. In many DHA facilities, this includes services such as MAID.
A 2023 poll conducted by Ipsos on behalf of DWDC shows that 84% of British Columbians support the Carter v Canada decision of the Supreme Court that recognized Canadians’ right to access MAID, and 75% believe all health care facilities that receive public funds have an obligation to provide the full range of legal health care services.
Advocacy Toolkit: Institutional religious obstructions in BC’s publicly funded health care facilities
This toolkit has been designed to provide you with the messaging and resources to effectively communicate to your MLA, DWDC’s position that all publicly funded health care providers must be obligated to allow MAID at their facilities, and that the government must amend an agreement which currently allows some taxpayer funded health care facilities to refuse to allow services they object to.
Yvonne’s story, Part 1: My mother’s forced transfer and struggle to access MAID
Yvonne’s mother was forced to move in order to access medical assistance in dying, because the only hospital in her city happened to be a Catholic hospital.
Yvonne’s story, Part 2: My mother’s forced transfer and struggle to access MAID
Part 2 of Yvonne’s story details what her mother went through during her last few months of life. It describes her ordeal with her decision to stay in the hospital in her Northern Ontario city so she could be visited by her friends.
Leave-behind (PDF)
Dying With Dignity Canada believes all publicly funded health care facilities
should be compelled to allow medical assistance in dying (MAID) onsite. Health
care providers that receive public funds, and refuse to allow services they object
to, serve only to prevent equitable access to British Columbia’s health care system.
Tell your MLA: All BC health care facilities that receive taxpayer funding must permit MAID onsite
Health care facilities that receive taxpayer funding should permit the full range of legal health care services, including MAID, at their facilities.
Empower. Inform. Protect your rights.