SASKATOON -- Eighty-six per cent of Canadians support medically assisted dying (MAID) when someone has a serious disease with little hope for recovery, according to a new survey.
Seventy-four per cent said the practice of MAID should be accessible to people with incurable diseases even when the diagnoses is not fatal.
Sixty-six per cent of people surveyed in Saskatchewan and Manitoba supported a broader range for assisted dying qualifications.
Dr. Lillian Thorpe, a geriatric psychiatrist who helps families through the process of medically assisted dying, has witnessed more than 250 medically assisted deaths since 2016.
“It is profoundly moving to be with a person as they often like to talk for a long time about their lives and what their life was like, and what was good about their life and what they would change about their life,” she said.
According to the survey, Quebec had 86 per cent support for MAID, which was the highest percentage of respondents in instances where patients are not close to death.
"There is a higher uptake than other urban areas and we are probably more of a rural province then much of the province,” said Thorpe.
There have been 248 medically assisted deaths in Saskatchewan since 2016, according to the province.
The online poll of 1,552 randomly selected Canadians was conducted by Leger for The Canadian Press in early January.
