Thank you. We will be sharing our time.
Dying With Dignity Canada, or DWDC, is a national human rights charity, which has been committed for the past 42 years to protecting end-of-life rights and helping Canadians avoid unwanted suffering. For Canadians, this is not an academic debate. It is about compassion, avoiding suffering and fundamental rights.
Every day we hear from individuals and families as they navigate end-of-life choice, including but not limited to medical assistance in dying, or MAID. In developing our position, we sought out the insights and lived experience of health care practitioners, individuals with physical disabilities and mental disorders, first-person advocates and other volunteers within the MAID community.
We believe that everyone should have both the right to live and the right to choose their end of life. We encourage the government to continue to invest in increasing access to palliative care and in providing additional supports for people living with disabilities and mental disorders. At the same time, we strongly support the statement made by Dr. Stefanie Green last week that MAID and community resources for mental health, palliative care and disability supports be developed and supported in parallel.
By far, the most frequently asked questions we receive are those related to advance requests for MAID. An advance request involves a competent person making a written request that could be honoured later, after they lose the capacity to make medical decisions for themselves. It would allow an individual to describe in writing a future state in which they would like to access MAID.
We know, through multiple Ipsos polls, that Canadians support advance requests. Those results have been consistent over time and in line with those from the government consultation in the spring of 2020. Ipsos polling in April of 2022 indicated that 85% of Canadians support an advance request for those diagnosed with a grievous and irremediable condition and 77% of Canadians support an advance request without a diagnosis.
Canadians tell us that they are concerned about their capacity to provide informed consent to MAID due to a family history of neurocognitive conditions, such as dementia or Parkinson’s, or that an accident or other medical problem could result in diminished mental capacity. Advance requests for MAID would allow those who so choose to avoid a life of grievous and irremediable pain and suffering if loss of capacity occurs.
DWDC believes that advance requests should be allowed with or without a diagnosis of a serious and incurable illness. Canadians already have the right to provide advance direction regarding treatment options through personal care directives. The same right for an advance request for MAID would allow those who anticipate a loss of capacity to ensure that the guiding principles of their lives are respected when they can no longer speak for themselves.
Senator Cowan will complete our statement.