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    • MAID expansion delay 'categorically' not a political move: justice minister

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    Canada鈥檚 justice minister and attorney general insists the decision to further delay changes to medical assistance in dying (MAID) legislation was not politically motivated and that the federal government expects the provinces to use the extra time to ensure they鈥檙e ready.

    The federal government announced this week it is delaying the controversial expansion of MAID 鈥 to include mental health as the sole factor 鈥 until 2027, after the next election.

    Arif Virani told CTV鈥檚 Question Period host Vassy Kapelos in an interview airing Sunday that the government鈥檚 approach has always been to find a balance between the 鈥渕oral conscience decisions鈥 of MPs, ensuring 鈥渢he dignity and autonomy鈥 of patients and having safeguards in place to protect vulnerable people.

    鈥淭hat remains our approach,鈥 he said. 鈥淣ow, the decision that we've taken to put a pause on this issue, about mental illness as a sole condition, has been informed by what we heard unanimously from both the people that lead the health-care systems around the country, but also to health care professionals that are responsible for delivering MAID.鈥

    鈥淭he nurses, doctors and psychiatrists who spoke to us resoundingly (said) we need to put a pause to ensure that the system is ready, because it is not right now,鈥 he added.

    The expansion of the legislation was set to come into effect this March, after having already been pushed back by a year. But several provinces and advocates have been calling on the federal government to indefinitely hold off on the plan.

    Virani acknowledged there are people who never want to see the system expanded and some who think it should have already been done.

    鈥淎nd there is our governmental response, which is that we are not saying yes, right now, we're not saying never, we're saying yes, in the future when the system is ready,鈥 he said.

    When asked whether the move to delay the expansion of the legislation again was a political one, Virani said that is 鈥渃ategorically鈥 not the case.

    But when pressed on how the federal government will know the system is ready and whether it can ensure it will be three years from now, Virani said a parliamentary committee down the road will make those evaluations.

    He said giving an extended three-year runway is meant to 鈥渋ncentivize that system readiness.鈥

    鈥淲e expect the provinces and the territories to be adopting the same approach and to be working on their system readiness,鈥 the minister said.

    Despite the province and territories鈥 opposition to the plan, Virani said they are making headway in preparing for it.

    He also said the number of people seeking out MAID with mental illness as the sole factor is very small, making up less than four per cent of the total of patients seeking the process.

    鈥淚t's a small cohort,鈥 Virani said. 鈥淲e anticipate at the time such that mental illness as a sole underlying condition becomes available in Canada, three years hence, it will remain a very small cohort of people that meet the required conditions.鈥

    鈥淏ut we heard, not once, but twice, from that joint committee of MPs and senators, that among the testimony they received, the vast majority of that testimony indicated the systems are not ready.鈥

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