This is a campaign from Dignity Denied.

The Canadian government is considering Bill C-7, on medically assisted death - and as currently constructed, the bill poses a grave risk by expanding medically assisted death to disabled people regardless of their proximity to death. 

We must be clear: as proclaimed in Article 10 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, disabled people "deserve to enjoy their inherent right to life on an equal basis with others." Any expansion of medically assisted death must be matched with expansions to housing access, health provision, and income supports. 

In addition, making death even easier in the midst of a mental health and suicide crisis, without further bolstering the supports that make life possible and appealing, is just another form of colonial genocide, as noted by Indigenous elders, doctors, and lawyers in testimony during the bill's hearings.

We must act to stop the bill. Use our tool to call your MP and ask them to vote against Bill C-7 when it comes back to the House for final consideration. You can use the script below to help you with your call. Note: many MPs offices are closed due to the pandemic, but staff check the voicemails daily and report back to the MP about the nature and content of those calls. Your voice can make a difference!


Full script below:

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Hello [Insert Name of Senator or Member of Parliament].

My name is ______ and I am calling you to demand you vote to defeat Bill C-7 in the Senate.

Disabled people and their allies have been calling to kill Bill C-7, as the recent amendments expand Medical Assistance in Dying to disabled people regardless of their proximity to death. Last week, the UN Special Rapporteur condemned the passage of Bill C-7, noting that “Such legislative provisions would institutionalize and legally authorize ableism, and directly violate Article 10 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which requires States to ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively enjoy their inherent right to life on an equal basis with others.”

Everyday disabled people are denied autonomy; confined in long-term care facilities, prevented from accessing health care, forced to survive on poverty wages while medical needs go unmet. Disabled people are forced to wait months and years to access chronic pain specialists, essential devices, accessible housing and social supports, yet only require 90 days to access MAiD. In the words of Dr. Naheed Dosani “If we are going to make Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) more accessible for Canadians, we have a duty & moral obligation to make housing, harm reduction services, mental health & income supports, more accessible too.”

Indigenous elders, doctors and lawyers testified against MAiD, condemning it as yet another form of genocide, given that more than ? of Indigenous people live with disabilities, as a result of centuries of settler colonialism. In the words of Tyler White “Efforts to suggest to our people that MAiD is a dignified end for the terminally ill or those living with disabilities is a form of cultural colonialism". Further, recognizing the ongoing suicide crisis, it is insulting and dangerous to add additional means of death, when communities have been tirelessly advocating for services that support life; mental health services, suicide prevention services, and resources.

These concerns raised by the Indigenous community were not properly addressed in consultation. In fact, as Senator Jaffer pointed out the deeply disturbing rushing of this legislation; “To say that you were in such a hurry that you didn't look at any ethnic group, I leave that on the record."

We are asking you to seriously consider the testimony of Black Indigenous racialized and working class Canadians that were shared over the last three days, and to vote Bill C-7 down accordingly. This process was rushed, and puts many disabled lives at risk of medical coercion due to systemic racism and ableism.

Thank you,

[Insert Name]