Former Conservative cabinet minister Lisa Raitt says she’s concerned about whether Prime Minister Mark Carney’s ‘assisted suicide’ bill would permit a patient with dementia to have MAID on an earlier written request, even if they are happy and content.
Raitt worries the Liberal proposal would allow MAID to proceed regardless of the family’s wishes.
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Hon. Lisa MacCormack Raitt P.C.@lraitt
Wife of a long term dementia patient here – 👋 If Bruce had signed an advanced directive, would I have been left to make the decision on when to apply MAiD? Even after 11 years, yesterday I saw him smile, laugh, interact and enjoy his meals while being non-mobile, incontinent…
Dr. Matthew Kang @DrMattKang
As a cancer MD, here’s what terrifies me about advance MAiD requests. A patient with dementia could be smiling, laughing and enjoying life. But a document signed years earlier says it’s time to die. Administer MAiD and risk criminal charges? Refuse and potentially face a
7:56 PM · Oct 31, 2026 · 85.6K Views
144 Replies · 291 Reposts · 1.56K Likes
](https://x.com/lraitt/status/2116620344807272913)
“Even after 11 years, yesterday, I saw him smile, laugh, interact and enjoy his meals while being non-mobile, incontinent and non-verbal,” Raitt wrote on X.
“I can promise you, I would ignore any advance directive.”
The warning comes after Bill C-41 was introduced, which would allow eligible Canadians suffering from a serious, terminal illness (including those with Alzheimer’s disease) who are expected to lose their capacity to make decisions to pre-arrange MAID.
