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Poll: 41% favour looser medical assistance in dying rules

A large majority of Village Media readers say Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) system either strikes the right balance now or should be further relaxed. The details, as always, are revealing
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A large majority of Village Media readers say Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) system either strikes the right balance now or should be further relaxed.

Some 1,047 of you voted in an online poll in late November.

The number of Canadians choosing to die through the MAiD process is rising rapidly - the number rose 30 per cent in 2022 compared to 2021, and it now accounts for over 4 per cent of Canadian deaths. 

But proposals to expand eligibility to those suffering from mental illness or drug addiction has caused deep uneasiness, as have reports that a veterans' caseworker suggested it to several people they were responsible for. 

As rarely happens, men and women in our poll had nearly identical answers:

An age breakdown shows revealing differences: the younger a reader is, the more likely they are to take a restrictive position (tightening rules, or banning MAiD entirely), Those under 50 had the most conservative views. 

PC voters were most likely to favour banning or curbing the practice:

Northern readers were more likely to favour a complete ban:

Cross-referencing this poll with some of our other polls shows that readers who want to ban or restrict MAiD also have broadly conservative views on other subjects, and vice versa:



Patrick Cain

About the Author: Patrick Cain

Patrick is an online writer and editor in Toronto, focused mostly on data, FOI, maps and visualizations. He has won some awards, been a beat reporter covering digital privacy and cannabis, and started an FOI case that ended in the Supreme Court
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