Feds say bill coming to allow advance directives for MAID but will bar MAID access to mentally ill

By Cristin Schmitz ( October 7, 2026, 5:28 PM EDT) -- Federal Justice Minister Sean Fraser says the Liberal majority government will introduce “in weeks” groundbreaking legislation to permit persons with serious medical conditions to consent in advance to medical assistance in dying (MAID), i.e. before they lose their capacity to consent to the procedure. The planned bill would also bar MAID access on an “indeterminate basis” to persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness, he said....