Canadian cardinal calls on prime minister to support legislation limiting euthanasia

Toronto Cardinal Frank Leo has written to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and members of Parliament in the Toronto area, urging them to “choose life and not death” by supporting legislation that would block the planned expansion of assisted suicide for those with mental illness.

Bill C-218, the Right to Recover Act, introduced last year by Conservative member of Parliament Tamara Jansen, is a private member’s bill that would prohibit the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) to individuals whose sole underlying condition is mental illness.

Under current federal law, that expansion is scheduled to take effect March 17, 2027. Parliament was expected to debate the bill earlier this month, but its order of precedence in the House of Commons has been pushed back, and no new date has been set.

In the April 20 letters, Leo reminded the prime minister and parliamentarians that a society “is rightly judged” by how it cares for its most vulnerable members and said many Canadians are “increasingly troubled” by the expansion of MAID since it was legalized in 2016.

Since then, nearly 100,000 lives have been ended by medically assisted death as eligibility criteria have broadened beyond the original framework that restricted MAID largely to those facing a reasonably foreseeable death.

“Our Catholic faith opposes the taking of any life, and it is with great disappointment and anguish that we have seen our country expand MAID at a rapid and alarming rate,” Leo wrote.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia, he said, are “contrary to the dignity of the human person.”

Leo and the Archdiocese of Toronto are leading the nationwide Help Not Harm campaign, which is encouraging Canadians to write to their MPs in support of Bill C-218.

“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,” Neil MacCarthy, director of public relations and communications for the archdiocese, told The Catholic Register earlier this month.

By mid-April, about 5,000 letters had been sent through the Help Not Harm online portal.

“There is growing anxiety that the normalization and expansion of assisted suicide risks undermining a culture of compassion, weakening investments in palliative support, and diminishing the collective commitment to accompany those suffering,” Leo wrote.

He is also calling on Carney to allow Liberal MPs a free vote when C-218 comes before Parliament.

“This legislation raises profound questions of conscience that transcend partisan alignment and touch on deeply held moral, ethical, and spiritual convictions,” Leo wrote. “I ask you to choose life and not death; to help build a civilization that cares for those suffering and does not eliminate them, but instead surrounds them with dignity, compassion, and love.”

He also asked the prime minister and Justice Minister Sean Fraser to “consider measures that restrict any further expansion of assisted suicide in Canada and instead prioritize investments in palliative care, mental health support, and resources for those who are increasingly marginalized and isolated, especially seniors and Canadians living with disabilities.”

This story was first published by Canadaʼs The Catholic Register and is reprinted here with permission.