{"id":17668,"date":"2025-11-04T04:53:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T09:53:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/?p=17668"},"modified":"2025-11-04T04:57:39","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T09:57:39","slug":"pr-nov-4-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/pr-nov-4-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaction to the 2024\u20132025 Report of the Commission on End-of-Life Care"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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In the absence of representative data,\na first report without a portrait of palliative care\n\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Meanwhile, Quebec remains the world leader\nin medical assistance in dying (7.9% of deaths)\n<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Montreal,\nNovember 4, 2025<\/span><\/b> \u2013 The Commission on end-of-life care <\/span>released its 2024\u20132025 Annual\nReport on October 30th<\/sup> (in French)<\/span><\/a>. After\nreviewing the document, the Living with Dignity citizen network (Vivre dans la\nDignit\u00e9) wishes to highlight two aspects of the report that must not go\nunnoticed in political and media discussions.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Palliative care: navigating in the dark<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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After years of\nrepeated warnings about the weakness of data on palliative care (\u201climited\nvalidity,\u201d according to the most recent five-year report, and \u201clack of\nsufficient information,\u201d according to the 2022\u20132023 report), the Commission has\ntaken a further step by refusing to share data it deems non-representative.\nFrom the report:<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

The Commission\nreviewed the data submitted by institutions concerning the number of people who\nreceived palliative and end-of-life care (PEOLC). Unfortunately, for several\nyears, it has noted that much data is missing, incomplete, or imprecise, or\nrefers to very different contexts from one institution to another. The\ndisparities observed appear to reflect both a lack of shared understanding of\nthe information to be transmitted and difficulties in providing certain\nrequested data. Consequently, the Commission considers that the data submitted\nare not representative of the real situation of palliative and end-of-life care\nin Quebec and that including them in this report could lead to\nmisinterpretations. <\/span><\/i>(p. 14 of the report)<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

We commend the\nCommission on end-of-life care for its integrity in choosing not to publish\ndata that would not provide an accurate picture of palliative care in Quebec.\nThis courageous decision should serve as a wake-up call for Minister Sonia\nB\u00e9langer, who resumed her position on October 30th as Minister for Health and\nis responsible for this file. As the Commission\u2019s five-year report reminded us:<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

\u201cThere are no\nmanagement indicators or standardized tools for assessing the quality of\npalliative and end-of-life care services, how well they meet the needs of\npatients and families, or how efficiently the system operates. The Commission\ntherefore cannot determine whether the needs of people who could benefit from\nsuch care are being met.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

We cannot\ncontinue to navigate blindly on such a critical issue.<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/p>

According to\nthose working in the field, there is no doubt that access to quality palliative\ncare remains more difficult than access to medical assistance in dying (MAiD).\nPalliative care requires more time, as well as greater human and financial\nresources. In the spirit of the Act respecting end-of-life care<\/i>,\nQuebecers should also have similar access to high-quality palliative care.\nProper indicators should also clarify where we collectively stand on this\nmatter.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

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We welcome the\nCommission\u2019s creation of an internal working group tasked with developing\nrecommendations to strengthen access to palliative care. However, urgent and\ndecisive action is needed\u2014particularly to protect and improve access to\nhome-based palliative care, which has been severely undermined by Bill 2 (see\nnumerous testimonies in French <\/span>here<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>).<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Medical assistance in dying: Quebec still at the top<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Quebec remains\nfirmly positioned among the jurisdictions with the highest proportion of\nassisted deaths (MAiD, euthanasia, or assisted suicide), accounting for 7.9% of\nall deaths during the period studied\u2014an increase of 9% compared to the previous\nyear.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

As Quebec\napproaches the 10th anniversary of its first cases of medical assistance in\ndying (December 10, 2025), the report raises several concerns regarding this\npractice, including:<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

– Major regional\ndisparities (MAiD represented 13.4% of deaths in Lanaudi\u00e8re vs. 4.7% in\nMontreal), a nearly 20% increase in Mont\u00e9r\u00e9gie, and more;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

– Very short\ndelays between a MAiD request and its administration (same day or next day in\n4% of cases);<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

– Non-compliance\nin a small number of cases (0.3%), with no reported disciplinary consequences\nin these 19 reported cases\u2014one of which involved administration without the\nperson\u2019s consent at the time. Living with Dignity reiterates that the current\nself-reporting system for MAiD providers after deaths cannot offer a full\npicture of non-compliant cases;<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

– 50% of those\nwho received MAiD cited suffering from being perceived as a burden to family,\nfriends, or caregivers; 24% cited loneliness and isolation.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

In concluding\nits report, the Commission reminds readers of its duty to ensure that MAiD is\nnot \u201cchosen for lack of access to other curative, palliative, or end-of-life\ncare that is of high quality and adapted to Quebecers\u2019 needs.\u201d Without adequate\ndata, it is clear that this objective cannot be achieved.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

We also believe\nthe Commission must remind the Quebec government of its responsibilities\nregarding how it communicates its constitutional project. The government\nappears to have forgotten the spirit of the Act Respecting End-of-Life Care<\/i>\nby emphasizing medical assistance in dying while neglecting to mention\npalliative care. This glaring imbalance between palliative care and MAiD in\nQuebec must end\u2014it is not a <\/span>\u201cshared\nsocial value\u201d<\/span><\/a> across Quebec society.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n<\/p>

\u2013 30 \u2013<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

Media contact :

\nJasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre
Coordinator, Living with Dignity citizen network
<\/span>info@vivredignite.org<\/span><\/a>

<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the absence of representative data,
\na first report without a portrait of palliative care<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Quebec remains the world leader
\nin medical assistance in dying (7.9% of deaths)
\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[290],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17668"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17672,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17668\/revisions\/17672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}