Canadian euthanasia association won't share training curriculum with Parliament

The association that trains doctors to commit euthanasia in Canada is refusing to share its training curriculum with the parliamentary committee that is reviewing whether the government should allow euthanasia for people with mental health illnesses.

Key Takeaways:

• A parliamentary committee is examining whether to allow euthanasia for mental health in Canada.

• The association which trains doctors to commit euthanasia refused to share its curriculum for review.

• Over 3,000 doctors have taken the curriculum, which was funded by taxpayer dollars.

The Details:

As reported by Canadian Affairs, on April 14, members of the parliamentary committee agreed to ask the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) for its curriculum module on MAID and mental health illnesses. CAMAP refused to do so, telling Canadian Affairs that because the module is a live online class, it would not be possible for the committee to review a copy of the curriculum. It will not make the curriculum public.

“CAMAP recognizes that there is significant public interest and ongoing discussion regarding MAID and mental disorders,” CAMAP told Canadian Affairs in an email.

“However, the purpose of the curriculum is not public advocacy or public education; rather, it exists to support health-care professionals in understanding and applying the existing legislative and clinical framework within their practice.”

CAMAP did offer to allow the committee members to participate in a session of the curriculum "so they could experience the curriculum in the context in which it is designed to be delivered. That invitation was not taken up."

Zoom In:

Nearly 3,000 doctors have taken the CAMAP curriculum, which was funded by the government through Health Canada at more than $3 million a year. "Based on this reality," wrote executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition Alex Schadenberg, "one would think that the federal government, in some way, actually owns the killing curriculum."

Some of those who were on the working group to build the curriculum have become harsh critics, saying it ignores loneliness and homelessness as factors in a MAiD decision, and that the curriculm discourages doctors from helping people improve quality of life with disabilities.

It “presumes that disabled people’s lives are not just harder, but plausibly unlivable,” said Catherine Frazee, an academic who resigned from the working group, wrote. Two others also resigned from the working group.

Frazee explained that in one case, a homeless 19 year old with cerebral palsy who had escaped an abusive environment was approved for MAiD. In another case, a young man with disabilities was approved for assisted death when he expressed that he feared he'd never have a family of his own.

The Bottom Line:

Canada has been considering allowing individuals with mental health illnesses and without a life-threatening diagnosis to access euthanasia for years. Its original launch date was pushed back amid controversy.

Now, the government is seeking to allow euthanasia for mental health reasons by March 17, 2027. Meanwhile, the number of people dying by euthanasia in Canada is steadily rising each year, and the government stands accused of considering assisted death a cost-saving measure.