May 25, 2026

Dear Friends:

Thank you for your continuous support. I had the opportunity to speak to the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD) on May 5 (watch on YouTube). In June, I will be speaking at a national conference and at a European conference in London, England.

Parliament convened the AMAD committee to examine whether Canada was “ready” to permit euthanasia for mental illness alone. The committee will submit a report later this year.

When Bill C-7 was passed in March 2021, the expansion of euthanasia included extending it to people solely with a mental illness. At that time, parliament agreed to a two-year moratorium on euthanasia for mental illness alone to provide time for them to establish guidelines. Parliament later extended the moratorium until March 17, 2027.

Tamara Jansen MP sponsored Private Member’s Bill C-218 to prevent euthanasia for mental illness alone. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has been promoting this bill.

EPC needs your support as we seek to intervene in the “emergency relief” court case launched by Dying with Dignity on May 4. The case is asking an Ontario court to approve the death of Claire Brosseau who is living with mental illness. EPC’s legal counsel, Hugh Scher, submitted a court application outlining our litigation experience, which includes interventions at every level in Carter, the case that legalized euthanasia
in Canada.

Scher wrote the following:

EPC will tailor its intervention, if granted, so as not to duplicate submissions made by other parties to the litigation and will focus the scope of its intervention on the public policy implications including people with mental health disabilities on the application of an exemption to the MAiD provisions of the Criminal Code that would allow for the application of MAiD to a person with a mental illness only.

Dying With Dignity, Ms. Brosseau, and Dr. Patricia Smith launched the court case in an attempt to get the court to legislate from the bench by giving Ms. Brosseau an exemption to be killed, even though parliament has a moratorium on euthanasia for mental illness alone.

EPC continues to distribute Life Worth Living and work on the upcoming film titled Prescription Poison that is scheduled for its first screening
in June.

We need your financial support to enable us to intervene in the Dying With Dignity/Brosseau court case and to complete Prescription Poison. Please give generously online (click here), sending an e-Transfer to info@epcc.ca, or by mailing a cheque. Thank you again.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director