Canadians Favour
Advance Consent in Assisted Dying
Support for Supreme Court decision high
In a random sampling
of public opinion taken by the Forum Poll™ among 2271 Canadian voters, the wide
majority continue to favour the Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of assisted
dying in the Carter case (72%) and this support has not changed materially
since we polled it last (April, 2016 - 74%). The assisted dying ruling is
favoured by younger voters (35 to 44 - 82%), the wealthiest (81%), in Quebec
(81%), among New Democrats (79%) and among Francophones (82%).
Canadians favour advanced consent in
assisted dying
A very similarly
clear majority approves of “advance consent” in assisted dying, where a patient
can leave explicit written instructions to be given assistance dying, even if
they are incapacitated and unable to communicate when the time comes (74%).
Those in favour follow a very similar demographic pattern to those in favour of
the Carter ruling overall; youngish (35 to 44 - 85%), the wealthiest ($100K to
$250K - 81%), in Quebec (80%), among New Democrats (79%) and Francophones
(81%).
“We have known for
years Canadians favour assisted dying. It is clear from these findings that
they don’t want to deny this right to those who can’t, in the end, speak for
themselves" said Forum Research President, Dr. Lorne Bozinoff.
