A report released by the United Nations committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on March 21 recommends that Canada stop Track 2 MAiD. The committee wrote that they were “extremely concerned” by the medical assistance in dying laws that allow people whose death is not forseeable to access medical euthanasia. The report also criticized the lack of oversight in the process.

Gabrielle Peters, a disabled writer and policy analyst who co-founded Disability Filibuster told the Health Sentinel she felt “relief” that the U.N. report listened and reported on the concerns of disabled people. “Disabled people in Canada have felt so alone, and we haven't had anyone really publicly saying 'You're right'," she said.

Despite making waves in the disabled community, the report has largely been ignored by politicians on the Federal campaign trail. I reached out to the Conservative, Liberal, and NDP Party for comment but have not heard back at the time of publication.

What is Track 2 MAiD?

In 2021, the Federal government expanded the eligibility criteria for MAiD creating the Track 2 pathway.

The original legislation, now called the Track 1 pathway, allows people with terminal conditions to access medical euthanasia. The Track 2 pathway allowed people with chronic health conditions and other disabilities, whose death was not forseeable, to access medical euthanasia if they experienced substantial suffering.

In 2023, 15,343 Canadians died by MAiD — a 16% increase from last year. Among them, 622 accessed the Track 2 pathway.

Concerns over Track 2

In March, members of the Canadian government and representatives from societies and non-profits representing disabled Canadians met in Geneva, Switzerland to discuss Canada’s compliance with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Though Canada signed on to the convention in 2010, it hasn’t been implemented into Canadian law.

During the hearings, Rosemary Kayess, the committee’s vice-chair, asking government representatives to explain how Track 2 MAiD differed from “state-sponsored eugenics.” Based on the hearing, the committee wrote up a report critical of Canada’s MAiD policies.

It raised concerns over the Federal court case that heralded the expansion of MAiD eligibility.

The decision “establishes medically assisted dying for persons with disabilities based on negative, ableist perceptions of the quality and value of the life of persons with disabilities, including that ‘suffering’ is intrinsic to disability rather than the fact that inequality and discrimination cause and compound ‘suffering’ for persons with disabilities.”

Echoing the words of many disabled Canadians and scholars, the committee argues that the idea of “choice” in MAiD is based on a flawed premise. If people with a disability are suffering, then the State can enable their death without guaranteeing the provision of support and other services that they may require.

MAiD is offered instead of a “myriad of support options for persons with disabilities to live dignified lives.” The policies highlight the State’s systemic failures to address the social determinants of health and well-being including:

• Addressing poverty

• Increasing access to healthcare

• Poverty alleviation

• Ensuring accessible housing

• Homelessness prevention

• Prevention of gender-based violence

• Community-based mental health supports and employment supports

The report cites evidence from the Ontario Office of the Chief Coroner and federal government reports showing that Track 2 is disproportionately accessed by women with disabilities and persons with disabilities in marginalized situations.

As I reported last year in Ricochet Media, the Federal government has failed to collect more data on the socioeconomic status of people accessing MAiD. An internal memorandum written by Health Canada in 2022 stated that the ministry was taking extra steps to improve data collection, including looking at income tax data, collected by the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA), of MAiD applicants to obtain more background information. According to an access to information request I filed, the CRA has no record of any documents or email communications about the topic.

The UN committee is also concerned about the expansion of Track 2 MAiD in 2027 to people whose “sole underlying medical condition is mental illness as well as a proposed expansion to “mature minors.” These expansions are championed by Dying with Dignity, a pro-MAiD organization which has a prolific history of lobbying for expansion.

The report states that there was an inadequate consultation process with Indigenous Peoples and no independent federal oversight mechanism to regulate monitor, and deal with complaints related to MAiD.

“This report confirms to the rest of the world that what they are hearing from disabled people is accurate, and what they are hearing from the Government of Canada and other prominent voices [in media] is propaganda,” said Peters.

U.N. Committee Recommendations

In addition to repealing Track 2 MAiD and pausing future expansion, the committee laid out several other recommendations:

• Invest and implement measures at a federal, provincial and territorial levels to fix the systemic failures affecting social determinants of health and well-being

• Strengthen the consultation process with Indigenous Peoples, including those who are non-status or off-reserve with disabilities

• Establish a federal independent oversight mechanism for MAiD

The Political Context

The same week that the committee was working on the report, the federal government finalized the Canada Disability Benefit program.

The benefit, which will pay out up to $200 per month to qualified Canadians, was called out by disability advocates and analysts for being inadequate and failing to lift most disabled Canadians above the poverty line.

“The disability benefit for Canadians with disabilities is woefully inadequate to address the living expenses of persons with disabilities, and the procedures to access social entitlements related to disability benefits and tax benefits are bureaucratic, complicated, and present disparities leading to unequal coverage,” the committee commented.

The newly established Carney government also eliminated the minister for diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities as well as the minister for women and gender equality and youth. Women and racialized individuals are more likely to experience disability and poverty, and may be more vulnerable to MAiD as a result.

The responsibilities of these ministers were transferred to the portfolios of other ministers, making it unlikely they will receive the same amount of attention.

“Cutting the ministries means there is no commitment to ending this country's longstanding exclusion, marginalization and dehumanization of disabled people. It signals danger and warns of a more perilous time ahead for disabled people," said Peters.

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I'm a science and health journalist who is disappointed and fed up with the lack of news coverage surrounding Long COVID, ME/CFS, chronic illness, and disability issues in Canada. I decided to start this newsletter to provide a home for the news stories that don’t get coverage in Canada’s news ecosystem, which lacks outlets for good, science-based reporting.