Ottawa has been slow to act on one of the most consequential — and contentious — healthcare debates in Canada: the expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). A Globe and Mail opinion piece is pushing back hard on that hesitation, arguing that Canada's capital needs to stop hiding behind a lack of readiness and actually do the work to get ready.
What's at Stake with MAID Expansion
MAID has been legal in Canada since 2016, but the scope of who qualifies has been a moving target ever since. One of the most debated frontiers is eligibility for people whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness — a category that has been delayed multiple times by the federal government.
Critics of those delays, including the Globe columnist, argue that repeated postponements send a troubling signal: that the government is comfortable leaving vulnerable Canadians in limbo rather than doing the harder work of building infrastructure, training practitioners, and establishing robust safeguards.
Ottawa's Role in the Standoff
As the seat of federal power, Ottawa sits at the centre of this policy debate. The federal government has repeatedly cited concerns about healthcare system readiness — whether there are enough trained assessors, whether proper safeguards are in place, whether provinces and territories can handle the administrative and ethical complexity of an expanded program.
But as the opinion piece argues, those concerns don't disappear by simply pushing the deadline back. If anything, delay without action only deepens the gap between what the law promises and what the healthcare system can actually deliver.
The Broader Healthcare Debate
MAID expansion touches every layer of the healthcare conversation in Canada — from patient autonomy and mental health care access, to the responsibilities of healthcare providers who may conscientiously object, to the rights of Canadians with long-term and complex conditions.
Advocates for expansion argue that forcing Canadians with serious, irremediable mental illness to continue suffering when they've clearly expressed a wish to die is a profound violation of their dignity. Opponents — including many psychiatrists and disability rights groups — worry that expanding eligibility before robust safeguards are in place puts the most vulnerable at risk.
Time to Stop Waiting
The Globe's argument, at its core, is a practical one: readiness doesn't happen automatically. It requires investment, planning, and political will. And Ottawa — both the city that houses Parliament and the government that runs it — has had years to prepare.
Whether you support or oppose MAID expansion, the stalling-without-planning approach serves no one. Either move toward genuine readiness, or have an honest conversation about whether expansion should happen at all. What isn't acceptable, the piece argues, is using unpreparedness as an indefinite crutch.
This is a debate that will continue to define Canada's approach to end-of-life care — and Ottawa will be at its centre every step of the way.
Source: The Globe and Mail via Google News Ottawa RSS feed.
