In 2016 Canada legalized “Medical Assistance in Dying” for people who suffer with “grievous and irremediable conditions” that will lead to a “reasonably foreseeable” death.

But as we’ve seen in the Netherlands and anywhere that doctor assisted suicide is legalized, once the door to euthanasia is cracked, it will swing wide open. Parliament is now considering a bill that would “expand access to assisted dying to intolerably suffering individuals who are not approaching the natural end of their lives.”

The definition of “intolerably suffering individuals,” by the way, would include the mentally ill. The Trudeau government backs this move but wants two years to create “protocols, guidance and safeguards.” But safeguards are flouted almost everywhere euthanasia is legal and are rarely effective.

How ironic that under Canadian law, someone accused of a crime “must possess the capacity to understand that his or her behaviour was wrong in order to be found guilty.” But if this bill goes forward someone would not need the mental capacity to understand the implications of choosing death.