FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 25, 2023

“The Quebec chief coroner’s inquiry into the tragic death of Normand Meunier is a positive step towards addressing problems with the euthanasia or MAiD system in Canada. Yet it also raises the critical question of why we don’t have better systems of accountability for euthanasia and assisted suicide, given other known cases of Canadians opting for MAiD due to lack of disability support, inadequate housing, or other issues. At the same time, other Canadians report being repeatedly offered euthanasia in place of proper supports for chronic conditions and disability, as though death were a solution to the care they’re not receiving. How many cases don’t we know about, where there isn’t a partner or advocate like the brave wife of Monsieur Meunier sounding the alarm? How many Canadians living with disabilities or chronic illnesses, or who’ve received a difficult diagnosis, feel like they need to choose death because of a lack of options? Or how many feel, like Monsieur Meurnier did, as though they would be a burden if they sought treatment? Canada urgently needs to enhance MAiD monitoring and safeguards and ensure access to high-quality disability supports.”

• Rebecca Vachon, Health Program Director at Cardus, a public policy think tank

Earlier this month, Cardus published a policy framework with an extensive series of proposals to improve MAiD monitoring and safeguards, including:

• Improving existing federal data collection through detailed examination of the types of palliative care and disability supports received by MAiD applicants and recipients.
• Introducing mechanisms such as MAiD application review panels prior to a patient receiving MAiD to protect against coercion.
• Correcting jurisdictional confusion around compliance investigations.
• Creating an independent oversight body for post-mortem investigations allowing for full criminal investigations and the release of health records.

For the most recent polling regarding the expansion of euthanasia and assisted suicide, visit Cardus.ca.

MEDIA INQUIRIES
Daniel Proussalidis
Cardus – Director of Communications
613-899-5174
media@cardus.ca

Cardus – Imagination toward a thriving society
Cardus is a non-partisan think tank dedicated to clarifying and strengthening, through research and dialogue, the ways in which society’s institutions can work together for the common good.