Canada sidesteps UN scrutiny over assisted dying

cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/26795

Calls by disability advocates and the UN to halt an expansion of medically assisted death have gone largely unacknowledged by the federal government

The post Canada sidesteps UN scrutiny over assisted dying appeared first on The Breach.

When the United Nations released a scathing report on Canada’s treatment of disabled people last spring—calling out inadequate financial supports and urging Ottawa to halt the expansion of medical assistance in dying—the federal government was silent.

Nearly a year later, it still is.

Internal government emails obtained by The Breach suggest officials anticipated little public scrutiny of the report, even as they acknowledged mounting anger from disability advocates, particularly over the federal government’s decision to eliminate a dedicated minister for disability.

The UN report and its recommendations weren’t “surprising to anyone listening to the disabled community,” said Gabrielle Peters, a disabled writer and policy analyst and co-founder of the Disability Filibuster. Disabled Canadians, she said, expressed the same concerns in government testimony, to the media, and to “anyone who would listen.”

Canada is not mandated to formally respond to the report; instead, it is reviewed internally. Ten months after it was released, The Breach asked federal departments for comment. They said they are still reviewing the UN’s recommendations, and are organizing a closed-door consultation. But the government has not publicly responded to the findings nor has it committed to holding public consultations on how they will be implemented.

Canada is required to respond to other recommendations issued by the United Nations and has done so faster. A periodic review on human rights issued in November 2023, which contained nearly three times as many recommendations, received an official response within five months. It took almost twice as long to table the UN disability report in Parliament and almost a year to organize a closed-door consultation.

This isn’t the first time Canada has been tight-lipped when criticized about medical assistance in dying, or MAiD. Three UN human rights experts cautioned Canada in 2021 about MAiD expansion but did not receive a formal response.

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