We have some confusing notions of autonomy in this country when it comes to issues around medical assistance in dying (MAID). Some are of the view that people should be allowed to do what they want with their bodies no matter what, and that the state should have little to no role in decisions of life and death. But there is an important difference between letting people do what they want to themselves, and allowing some people to euthanize others who may be in a vulnerable state. It is not paternalistic to try to protect those people, and for the state to err on the side of life where there are questions of capacity, coercion and consent for an act for which there is no going back.
Of course Canada is not ready for MAID for mental illness. We probably won’t ever be
