The push to build support for Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, remains at a robust tempo even though it is no longer clear when the legislation will receive its second hour of debate in the House of Commons.
Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s private member’s proposal to permanently halt the scheduled March 17, 2027, expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAiD) access to individuals solely living with a mental illness was expected to be on the parliamentary agenda for April 13.
Recently, the bill’s order of precedence in the House has shifted, moving down 10 positions and affecting its expected timeline.
Alex Schadenberg, the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC), shared his appraisal of this development with The Catholic Register.
“That whole issue of Bill C-218 has become more interesting now that the federal government has got that (special joint committee) started,” said Schadenberg. “They are examining the question of MAiD for mental illness. That committee is hearing people from both sides of the debate, and it’s possible that they might keep trading it backwards in the debate schedule because of the hearings. It becomes very difficult to convince members of parliament — let’s say a backbench member of the Liberals who is against euthanasia — to vote in favour of Bill C-218 when this committee is going on.”
The Register requested, but has not yet received, a direct statement from Jansen’s office explaining the decision to punt debate.
The Archdiocese of Toronto, the driving force behind the nationwide Help Not Harm campaign, intends to capitalize on this delay by building even more support for the letter-writing drive launched last month.
“We are encouraging parishes and the faithful to continue their efforts through the month of April and until a date for the vote is announced,” wrote Neil MacCarthy, director of public relations and communications, on April 9. “To date, close to 5,000 letters have been sent to MPs through the Help Not Harm portal.”
EPC led a rally in support of Bill C-218 on Parliament Hill on April 13.
Schadenberg said culture of life advocates who assembled for the demonstration — including MPs, pro-life groups and physicians — soberly acknowledged how Canada is poised to surpass 100,000 medical killing deaths before the month is done.
“It is a very sad commentary that we’ve hit 100,000 deaths by euthanasia in Canada since June 2016 when it was legalized,” said Schadenberg.
At a news conference in the Parliamentary Press Gallery prior to the rally, Schadenberg appeared alongside Montreal physician Dr. Peter Blusanovics and Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician based in Lacine, Que. Blusanovics warned that without Bill C-218 or other legislation of similar intent becoming law, “we are condoning a bypass towards suicide, and blatantly admitting defeat.”
He also decried the lack of medical and psychiatric supports for individuals experiencing mental illness.
Saba said there is no way for physicians to determine whether or not a patient’s mental disorder is irremediable. He warned of the coming landscape following March 17, 2027, if something is not done.
“In Quebec, the waiting time to see a psychiatrist after being referred is at least five months, and in most cases longer. In the MAiD law next year, a patient after being accepted for euthanasia will have a three-month waiting period before the lethal injection is given.”
These grim realities and trajectories has led to the international community is taking a pause with advancing assisted suicide legislation because of the apparent Pandora’s Box opened in Canada over the past decade, suggested Schadenberg.
The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults Bill was defeated 69 to 57 in Scottish Parliament on March 17, and the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Act in the United Kingdom is now unlikely to pass during the current House of Lords session that concludes in May. Over 1,000 amendments to the bill passed by the U.K. Commons in June 2025 are being debated. Not completing this work would mean the bill dies on the order paper.
Encouraging to Schadenberg is that it appears Canadian politicians are more willing to engage in a fulsome discussion about MAiD than in the past, based on what he has heard so far from the special joint committee.
“I did actually find the tone very interesting,” said Schadenberg. “During the first group of presentations, there were several key pro-euthanasia people speaking, and I found they were not given the free rein they had in the past. They were actually getting challenged a bit, and I found that refreshing.”
