Report Update
In July 2018, the Expert Panel on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) held its sixth and final panel meeting to deliberate on the content and findings of the three reports: The State of Knowledge on Medical Assistance in Dying for Mature Minors; The State of Knowledge on Advance Requests for Medical Assistance in Dying; and The State of Knowledge on Medical Assistance in Dying Where Mental Disorder is the Sole Underlying Medical Condition.
Since that time, the Working Groups for each of the three reports have held teleconferences to further deliberate on content, refine the drafts, and provide final sign-off. The reports are now in publication and on track to be delivered to Health Canada and the Department of Justice Canada and then tabled in Parliament in December. At that time, the reports will be made available to the public in English and French on CCA’s website.
On November 1st, an early version of one of the three reports (Advance Requests for MAID) was leaked to the Globe and Mail. The document obtained by the Globe and Mail is not the final version of the report and does not reflect the final deliberations of the Working Group.
The CCA and its Expert Panel members are not at liberty to discuss the content of the reports, including commenting on the details of the leaked document, until the reports are tabled in Parliament.
About the Project
In December 2016, the CCA was asked by then-Minister of Health Jane Philpott and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Jody Wilson-Raybould to undertake independent reviews related to medical assistance in dying. Specifically, the CCA is tasked with examining three particularly complex types of requests for medical assistance in dying that were identified for further review and study in the legislation passed by Parliament in 2016. These cases are: requests by mature minors, advance requests, and requests where mental illness is the sole underlying medical condition.
Read more about the project and the Expert Panel.
About the Council of Canadian Academies
The Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) has a long-established approach for convening experts and assessing evidence from all sides to inform public policy development in Canada. CCA is independent and non-partisan. CCA reports provide evidence to inform decision-making processes and do not make recommendations, including recommendations about specific laws, practices, or cases.