Alberta justice minister told to legislate new safeguards, oversight of MAID

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Minister of Justice Mickey Amery announce proposed changes to several pieces of democratic process legislation in Edmonton on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

EDMONTON — Alberta's justice minister has been directed to introduce new legislation on medical assistance in dying, or MAID, that would give the government greater control and oversight of the program.

A new mandate letter to Mickey Amery from Premier Danielle Smith says the legislation should introduce "appropriate safeguards" and prohibit mental illness from being a sole eligibility factor.

The letter doesn't provide detail on what safeguards the province is looking to implement or what kind of oversight it wants to have.

Amery, in an email, also didn't provide details, but said health care falls under provincial jurisdiction and that federal rules are insufficient in "providing the necessary oversights and safeguards to protect vulnerable Canadians."

Mental illness has never been an approved sole eligibility factor for MAID, though the federal government has considered permitting it.

Ottawa planned to allow it starting in 2023, but it passed legislation that year delaying the decision for two years to allow for further study. The government delayed the implementation again last year, putting it off to 2027.

According to data from Alberta's provincial health authority, 1,117 Albertans chose to have a medically assisted death last year, and just over 5,000 Albertans have chosen MAID since the program's implementation in 2016.

Smith's letter directing new provincial legislation on MAID comes almost a year after the government surveyed just under 20,000 Albertans on whether they think the province should step in. Nearly half of those surveyed disagreed with putting in more guardrails on MAID decisions.

Opposition NDP health critic Sarah Hoffman said in a statement that she would review the legislation once it is introduced but said the government needed to focus on more pressing issues such as “reducing wait times, getting people family doctors, and stopping the overcrowding in our (emergency rooms).”

University of Calgary health law professor Lorian Hardcastle said the issue of mental health as an eligibility consideration has been controversial for years and that there are disagreements among practising psychiatrists.

Hardcastle said the two camps broadly break down into those who accept that mental illness can sometimes be incurable, leaving people to suffer perhaps needlessly, while others believe all mental illnesses can be cured and that people shouldn't give up hope.

"Everyone's struggled with this," she said.

But Hardcastle said the federal government has been studying the issue for years whereas Alberta is moving to prohibit it without waiting for a decision from Ottawa.

"It's a difficult question but I trust them, given all of this legwork they've done to come out with something acceptable," Hardcastle said of the federal government.

"I think the federal government is better positioned to legislate."

When asked what Alberta could do in terms of setting new rules around MAID, Hardcastle said Alberta could set new rules preventing health-care workers from making certain choices or use its regulating and funding authority to ensure desired outcomes.

Amery has also been tasked with introducing new legislation "to protect the free speech rights of all provincially regulated professionals," such as lawyers and physicians.

The government's plan to introduce legislation on this issue was announced last year, with Smith and Amery posting a video to social media explaining it was needed to ensure regulated professionals weren't being policed for opinions on subjects unconnected to their field of practice.

Smith and Amery, in the video, cited psychologist and media personality Jordan Peterson being directed to undergo training by the College of Psychologists of Ontario after complaints about his online comments as one reason why legislation was needed in Alberta.

Critics at the time said Smith's government was looking to give people the freedom to spread misinformation without professional consequences.

Amery wasn't the only minister to receive a new mandate letter Thursday.

A government news release says Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis needs to work with Amery on crafting a new policing priority framework that directs police forces to focus on the government's priorities.

The government later retracted the word “directs.”

A spokesperson for Ellis said later that it meant to say “assists” police rather than directing them to focus on the government's priorities.

Smith's new intergovernmental relations mandate, addressed to a top bureaucrat, says the government should plan to open new offices in Abu Dhabi and Mumbai to expand the province's international presence.

It also says the government will table legislation "to protect Alberta’s authority in the implementation of international agreements."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2025.

Jack Farrell, The Canadian Press