Disability groups legally challenge Canada's euthanasia law.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Press Conference

On September 26, 2024 a coalition of disability rights organizations and two personally affected individuals filed a Charter challenge with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The Court Challenge opposes Track 2 of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) law, which provides euthanasia to people with a disability who are not dying, or whose death is not “reasonably foreseeable.” 

The coalition includes national disability organizations Inclusion Canada, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), Indigenous Disability Canada (IDC/BCANDS), and DAWN Canada, as well as two individuals who have been harmed by Track 2 MAiD. 

Krista Carr, Executive Vice-President of Inclusion Canada said.

"People are dying. We are witnessing an alarming trend where people with disabilities are seeking assisted suicide due to social deprivation, poverty, and lack of essential supports,"

"This law also sends a devastating message that life with a disability is a fate worse than death, undermining decades of work toward equity and inclusion. It’s time to put an end to helping people with disabilities commit suicide and start supporting them to live."

Heather Walkus, National Chairperson of the CCD said:

"This challenge is about protecting the equality and human rights of all people with disabilities in Canada,"

"Instead of providing the support and resources we need to live, our government is offering death. It's unacceptable, and we won't stand for it."

Neil Belanger, CEO of IDC/BCANDS said:

“Indigenous Peoples and communities across Canada face higher rates of disability, poverty, and isolation while continuing to battle significant barriers when attempting to access disability and health services and supports necessary for their well-being,” 

 “Understanding this, this law is not just discriminatory; it reinforces the ongoing marginalization of Indigenous Peoples with disabilities."

Bonnie Brayton, CEO of DAWN Canada said:

“Women and gender-diverse people with disabilities experience the highest rates of gender-based violence and poverty and we do not have access to health care, as the heartbreaking stories of the two individual plaintiffs in this case demonstrate. We want access to housing, to health care and to be free of violence and instead, we are accessing MAID at the highest rates. This law is a betrayal of our most fundamental rights”

 The organizations assert that Track 2 MAiD has resulted in premature deaths and an increase in discrimination and stigma towards people with disabilities across the country. While they are not challenging MAiD Track 1 cases, they recognize that these cases pose significant problems for people with disabilities. Track 2 MAiD has had a direct negative impact on the lives of people with disabilities.

The coalition is petitioning the court to strike down Track 2 approvals in Canada's MAiD law, arguing that providing assisted death solely on the basis of disability is unconstitutional.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will seek to intervene in this case.

EPC is also seeking to intervene in the Dying With Dignity case designed to force the federal government to permit euthanasia for mental illness alone and the other Dying With Dignity case that intends to force all hospitals, including religiously affiliated hospitals, to provide euthanasia.