Group urges Parliament to address risks of coercion, undue influence and elder abuse
Dementia Justice Canada has raised concerns about the federal government's plan to permit advance requests for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), urging Parliament to examine whether safeguards can adequately protect people living with dementia from coercion, undue influence and elder abuse.
The organization issued a statement following the federal government's October 7 announcement that it would introduce legislation to decriminalize and permit advance requests for MAiD.
An advance request allows a person with decision-making capacity to request MAiD for a later date, after losing the capacity to consent and once specified conditions are met.
Dementia Justice Canada warned that increasing dependence on others could expose people living with dementia to manipulation or pressure when making decisions about MAiD.
The organization noted that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged Canada in March 2025 not to expand MAiD to include advance requests.
Dr. Fay Martin, a retired social worker and second vice-chair of Dementia Justice Canada, said people living with dementia may increasingly depend on others for care, communication, transportation, finances and community access.
“Those relationships can be loving and supportive, but they can also become controlling or abusive. The difficulty is knowing what is happening when fewer and fewer people are apt to see it,” Martin said.
Heather Campbell Pope, a lawyer and chair of Dementia Justice Canada, raised concerns about the consequences of failing to detect undue influence before MAiD takes place.
“A court can undo a will that was unduly influenced,” Pope said. “But once MAiD is provided, there is no meaningful remedy if we later find that the person was pressured to make the advance request, that they had changed their mind, or that they are going along with it because of pressure or coercion. It is simply too late.”
The organization urged Parliament to examine how safeguards would identify, assess and address coercive control and elder abuse before decriminalizing advance requests. It also questioned whether safeguards could reliably detect manipulation within relationships of trust or dependence when individuals can no longer advocate for themselves.
Dementia Justice Canada said it would continue raising these concerns with Parliament and other lawmakers as they develop and consider the proposed legislation.
