Liberals to Oppose Bill C-218 on MAID as 2027 Deadline Nears

The Liberal cabinet will vote against Conservative MP Tamara Jansen's Bill C-218 at second reading on Wednesday afternoon.

A briefing note from the Liberal Research Bureau to Liberal MPs says cabinet ministers will oppose the bill. Backbench MPs, those who are not ministers, may vote as they choose, as reported by The Globe and Mail. At second reading, the first major vote on whether a bill should proceed, opposition from cabinet often defeats a private member's bill. A private member's bill is one introduced by an MP who is not in cabinet.

Bill C-218 would amend the Criminal Code to state that a mental disorder cannot qualify a person for medical assistance in dying (MAID). It addresses the dispute over whether people whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness should be eligible, and what safeguards should apply.

Justice Minister Sean Fraser said Tuesday, Oct. 6, he will disclose "the path forward" for MAID before the vote. He did not say whether he will table new legislation.

The briefing note says the government's objection is about drafting. It says "mental disorder" is too broad. The concern is that the wording could block people with neurocognitive ailments, conditions that affect brain function such as memory and thinking, who can receive MAID under the current law. It is like casting a wide net instead of a narrow one. In current practice, disorder covers a wider set of diagnoses than illness.

MAID became legal in Canada in June 2016 for people whose deaths were deemed "reasonably foreseeable". In 2021, after a Quebec court decision, Parliament changed the law to allow people with incurable conditions to seek MAID. At the same time, it set a two-year temporary exclusion for people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness, to allow more study.

That temporary exclusion has been extended twice. In February 2024, the government tabled legislation to delay expansion to those cases by three years. Eligibility on that basis is now set for March 17, 2027, according to Health Canada.

In June, a special parliamentary committee studying MAID recommended that the government "indefinitely exclude persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness" from eligibility. The report said the terms "mental illness" and "mental disorder" are unclear and need greater clarity and consensus. Fraser said he held his own consultations over the summer after the report.

A similar bill failed at second reading in 2023. Eight Liberal MPs voted for it at that time.

Three petitions on the House of Commons order paper, the formal list of business before the House, address the issue. Petitions 451-01224 and 451-00906 call on Parliament to pass Bill C-218 and stop expansion to cases based solely on mental illness. Petition 451-00658 asks the federal government to cease expansion of MAID, including advanced requests.

The broader context here is procedure meeting a legal deadline. A cabinet vote against the bill, combined with a free vote for backbench MPs, allows the government to defeat a bill it views as unworkable without requiring all MPs to vote the same way on an issue many treat as a matter of conscience. With the March 2027 date in place, Fraser's statement will be read as an early sign of whether the government plans its own permanent rules, seeks another delay, or lets the current law take effect. The choice between illness and disorder will set how narrow or wide any future exclusion is.