There are some things you just have to get done quickly, and there are others where you should take the time you need to get it right.
asserted
it → be → time
The key is knowing which is which.
asserted
which → know → ?
But when it comes to the thorny issues involved in medical assistance in dying, or MAID, the federal government is showing it doesn’t know, or care, about the difference.
asserted
it → come → difference
On one issue — whether people whose sole medical condition is mental illness should be eligible for assisted dying — the government has to act quickly.
asserted
government → assist → dying
Many disagree, but I think the government is right to prevent people with mental disorders from accessing MAID.
asserted
government → disagree → MAID
There are too many uncertainties involved; there’s too much evidence that mental illnesses can’t reliably be diagnosed as “irremediable,” as the law requires.
asserted
law → be → ?
In any case, that issue has been extensively debated — including by two parliamentary committees that recommended the course the government is taking.
asserted
government → debate → course
It’s time to get on with it and make sure the law is fixed before March 17.
asserted
law → ’ → March
The bill, tabled by Justice Minister Sean Fraser Tuesday, also seeks to update the reporting requirements health care professionals.
asserted
bill → table → requirements
The bill, tabled by Justice Minister Sean Fraser Tuesday, also seeks to update the reporting requirements health care professionals.
asserted
bill → table → requirements
That’s a complicated question in its own right.
asserted
That → ’ → right
Should people who are diagnosed with a “capacity-limiting disease,” such as Alzheimer’s, be able to ask that MAID be administered to them once they’ve lost the ability to consent — perhaps years in the future, under circumstances they can’t properly envisage at the moment they’re signing up?
asserted
they → diagnose → moment
There’s no reason to rush legislation on advance directives, as they’re known, through Parliament.
asserted
they → ’ → Parliament
Surely it’s one of those things you should take the time to get right.
asserted
you → ’ → time
But by linking the two in one piece of legislation that must be done and dusted very quickly, in parliamentary time at least, the government is preventing a full airing of the issues involved.
asserted
government → link → issues
It looks to be largely a political calculation: those who are upset the government is barring MAID for mental illness may be assuaged by opening the door to advanced directives.
uncertain
government → look → directives
And after getting bruised in the divisive debate over mental illness, the government may be happy to dodge another tricky issue where it’s likely to make as many enemies as friends.
uncertain
it → bruise → friends
The government is, in effect, punting the debate to the provinces.
asserted
government → punt → provinces
It says all it’s doing is removing the criminal prohibition on administering MAID to people who request it in advance.
asserted
who → say → advance
It’ll be up to individual provinces to decide whether they want, in the words of Justice Minister Sean Fraser, “to embrace the next frontier on medical assistance in dying.
asserted
they → decide → dying
But the government can’t duck the issue that easily.
asserted
government → duck → issue
Advanced directives may seem pretty simple in principle — “I don’t want to suffer, or make my family suffer, once I’m really sick” — but they raise a host of difficult questions.
uncertain
they → seem → questions
Such as: can people really give “free and informed consent” to being put to death sometime in the future, in a hypothetical situation they can hardly foresee?
asserted
they → give → situation
Yes, Canadians can choose to end their lives with dignity — but why only if their suffering is
asserted
suffering → choose → dignity
In Quebec, which has had advance directives since 2024, someone suffering from a degenerative condition must spell out the conditions for administering MAID and be experiencing “enduring and unbearable” physical or psychological suffering.
asserted
someone → have → suffering
But once the person has lost the ability to consent, or even to communicate, how possible is it to gauge their suffering?
asserted
it → lose → suffering
What if family members disagree on what should be done?
asserted
what → disagree → ?
Who ultimately decides, and how can we be sure MAID doesn’t become a convenient out for others, at the expense of the patient?
asserted
MAID → decide → patient
The Star’s Raisa Patel reported the other day on doctors in Quebec who are wrestling with such issues and have serious doubts about how that province’s system of advanced directives is going after two years.
asserted
system → report → years
One of them calls it all a “big conundrum.”
asserted
One → call → it
Shouldn’t Ottawa take the time necessary to think this through?
asserted
Ottawa → take → this
Even if the provinces ultimately decide on what system to implement, shouldn’t the federal framework they’ll operate in be fully debated?
asserted
they → decide → system
This is one area where there’s no need to rush.
asserted
This → ’ → ?
The government shouldn’t force it through on an artificial deadline.
asserted
government → force → deadline
It should take the time and get it absolutely right.
asserted
it → take → time
The Aporia
