Conservative MPs Andrew Lawton and Tamara Jansen have launched a new campaign and private member’s bill aimed at halting the scheduled expansion of Canada’s assisted dying regime to individuals suffering solely from mental illness.
The initiative comes as part of Lawton’s “I Got Better” campaign, which calls on Canadians to share personal stories of recovery from mental illness. Lawton, the Member of Parliament for Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, said the effort is designed to support Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, tabled by Jansen in May.
Lawton, who seconded the bill, said the campaign is meant to affirm that healing is possible.
“Allowing people with only a mental illness to seek MAID gives up on the vulnerable, who need hope, compassion, and support,” Lawton said. “The ‘I Got Better’ campaign is about ensuring Canadians know it’s possible to survive and even thrive after wanting to end your life,” Lawton told True North.
The campaign’s website, IGotBetter.ca, encourages Canadians to submit written or video testimonials of survival and hope, while also urging elected officials to consider the bill. It further describes the expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying as a threat to vulnerable Canadians in crisis, and states that the law should reflect the treatable nature of mental illness.
Jansen, MP for Cloverdale–Langley City, held a press conference alongside Lawton in Langley earlier this month to promote the legislation, which seeks to amend the Criminal Code to exclude mental disorders from qualifying as “grievous and irremediable” conditions under MAID law.
“That’s where Canada is headed in 2027 if we don’t change course,” said Jansen. “That’s why I’ve introduced Bill C-218. This would make it illegal to offer Medical Assistance in Dying to someone whose sole medical condition is a mental illness.”
The proposed MAID expansion was originally passed as part of Bill C-7 in 2021, following a 2019 Quebec court ruling that led to broader access to euthanasia.
While mental illness as a sole condition was initially set to become eligible in March 2023, the federal government has twice postponed its implementation, now scheduled for March 17, 2027.
Public support for allowing MAID for mental illness remains low.
A February 2023 Angus Reid poll found just 31 per cent of Canadians in favour, with that number declining to 28 per cent in September of the same year.
Bill C-218 passed first reading on June 20 and is expected to come up for second reading in the House of Commons this November.