Tell your candidates 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 ensured more equitable access to MAID, 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 written 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 could 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 our federal candidates to respect people’s end-of-life rights by supporting advance requests for assisted dying.
The time to act is now
On October 30, 2024, Quebec became the first province in Canada to allow advance requests for medical assistance in dying. Our hope is that a legal advance requests regime in one province will have a cascading effect on the other provinces and territories.
Tell your candidates to make advance requests a priority, so that those who wish to can make a request for MAID while they still have the capacity and autonomy to do so.
The letter is fully customizeable. If you have a personal experience with the issue of advance requests, we encourage you to include that in your letter.
If you are interested in calling or meeting with your candidates, learn more here.
Empower. Inform. Protect your rights.