Professor Trudo Lemmens:

It is not against the law. Actually, the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers has claimed that any person who might qualify should be offered the opportunity to learn about MAID.

If you apply that in the context of a person who is not dying, but who suffers from disability, I think most people with disabilities would be seriously offended to be told when going for care - and they fulfil the broad criteria of the law - that they seem to be suffering intolerably so their life can be ended. It is problematic and reflects a general attitude that has developed in Canada to glorify medical assistance in dying as the only way to die with dignity. People also say that large numbers are not an issue. We have 10,000 people who have died by MAID. Some 7% of people who die in Quebec die by MAID. The requirement of the law is that there has to be intolerable suffering that cannot be alleviated in circumstances the person finds intolerable. Nobody has been able to explain to me why there is such a high level of intolerable suffering in specific provinces. In Canada generally we now have a massive number of people suffering intolerably in a way that cannot be relieved. I tell them to look at the data in the Health Canada reports. These are self-reported data. They are not perfect, but they give an idea of what is going on. When more than 30% of people say they feel part of their intolerable suffering is being a burden to loved ones and others, to me that is a red flag. It is a red flag when more than 50% of people say they suffer intolerably because they have pain or fear pain. That means they fear they will not have adequate palliative care to end their lives. There are concerns about how this is being explained away.