Steven Sukkau
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Winnipeg Sun
Portage–Lisgar MP Branden Leslie says rural Canadians face enough barriers accessing mental health services without the federal government offering assisted death as an alternative.
Speaking in Parliament this week, Leslie seconded Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, which would amend the Criminal Code to permanently exclude mental illness as a sole reason for eligibility under Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) law.
For Leslie, the issue is rooted in what he sees every day in his southern Manitoba riding.
“In communities like those across our region, people already struggle to get timely access to mental health and addictions supports. Wait times stretch weeks and sometimes even months,” he said. “Families fight tooth and nail to get their loved ones the help they need. And instead of fixing this broken system, the Liberal government has opened the door to MAID for mental illness.”
Accessing treatment in rural Canada often means driving long distances, waiting weeks or even months for specialist care, or navigating patchwork services stretched thin across multiple communities. Leslie said those gaps leave people in crisis vulnerable and unsupported.
“Offering assisted death to someone in the middle of a mental health crisis is not compassion. It’s giving up on people who need help, hope, and treatment,” he said.
Medical leaders have echoed the concern. The Society of Canadian Psychiatry has warned that mental illnesses cannot be reliably deemed “irremediable,” stressing that many patients improve when care and supports are available.
Tamara Jansen, the bill sponsor, has pushed back against MAID expansion. She warns that without Bill C-218, Canadians with only a mental illness could request death as early as 2027. She frames her legislation as pushing back against “abandonment” of people in mental health crisis.
Instead of expanding MAID, Leslie argues the federal government should be tackling the shortage of mental health resources outside major urban centres.
“Canadians deserve better treatment options, better suicide prevention strategies, and better access to supports, especially in rural communities,” he said. “We should be offering people a future, not a way out.”
If passed, Bill C-218 would make it permanent that MAID cannot be accessed solely on the basis of mental illness. Leslie said that measure is critical to protect people who might otherwise fall through the cracks of a struggling health system.
“I believe recovery is possible. I believe every Canadian life has value,” he said. “No Canadian should ever be told by their government that their life is not worth fighting for.”
Opponents of an outright ban argue that patient autonomy, fairness, and legal challenges must also be considered. Some propose a middle path: delay any expansion until the system is ready, establish rigorous safeguards, and ensure mental health services are strengthened first.
The government has delayed MAID’s expansion to mental-illness-only cases until March 17, 2027.
