10 years after MAID in Quebec, the woman who fought for its expansion hopes Canada will follow suit

Seven years after her initial diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, Sandra Demontigny’s home is full of reminders.

There was a routine chart stuck on the door of his apartment Excitement Told him to take his keys and bag. Post-it notes and family photos fill the fridge. A drug alarm goes off in the kitchen of her independent seniors living facility in Lewes, Ky.

DeMontagne may forget dates, times and daily tasks that were once second nature, but the 46-year-old still remembers the key role he played in advocating for the expansion of medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Quebec.

It was just after her diagnosis in 2018 — a moment she had feared for decades after watching her father suffer from genetic early-onset Alzheimer’s.

,I decided that if one day I get this disease, I don’t want to go through it anymore,” she said.

Demontigny made headlines across the country and international level For her petition to MAID advanced requests – even to participate as a witness. in a federal 2022 special joint committee,

She argued that she should be allowed to choose MAID while she is still able to consent to care.

In October 2024, Quebec moves forward with its plan to authorize expedited requests for medical assistance in dying Despite concerns raised by the federal government.

Since the province has completed 10 years of MAID made valid through bill 52Experts say Quebec remains a leader in this field Demontigny Hopefully this can help set an example – inspiring the rest of Canada to follow.

“Try to fight too,” she said. “I was afraid I’d miss my train.”

‘She was going to be imprisoned in her own body’: Son

For son of demontigny Sacha Fontaine, it was no surprise that his mother became a figure in the movement to expand MAID. He says he didn’t have much choice.

“She had to do this or she was going to be trapped in her own body,” he said, sitting on the couch in his mother’s apartment.

“More than that, I think it was a fight for us because we would be next,” he said, referring to the genetic condition that put some of his family members at risk for early-onset Alzheimer’s.

Says, elderly people can die from disease, but not always from disease DemontignyBut after being diagnosed at age 30, she says, “The body is good, it’s just the mind that’s bad,”

With my head down, holding back tears, Demontigny Recalled how her 53-year-old father forgot to swallow and died of aspiration. He remembers that at the end he crawled on his hands and knees, hitting the walls and crying continuously, while he was unable to talk.

“It’s hard,” he said, pausing. “It’s scary for the people around… for the dignity of the person.”

How Quebec became a ‘case study’ for MAID

In January 2025, in his apartment, Demontigny signed his form for advanced consent for MAID in the presence of his friends, witnesses, and doctors.

According to the Ministry of Health, she is now one of 1,747 people who have successfully advanced requests for the procedure in the province between October 30, 2024, and December 7, 2025.

In 2024, the federal government repeatedly expressed concerns about Quebec moving forward with advanced consent before revising the Criminal Code. But Ottawa said it would not challenge the Quebec law.

A year earlier, a report by the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying made 23 recommendations, including to the Canadian government. amend the criminal code To allow advanced requests after diagnosis of a serious and incurable medical condition, illness or disorder leading to disability.

Just days before Quebec begins accepting requests in 2024, Then Federal Health Minister Mark Holland said criminal charges for assisted dying are overseen by provincial law enforcement and reiterated that advanced solicitations are still considered a crime under the Criminal Code of Canada.

But Quebec has instructed its prosecutor’s office not to bring charges against doctors who process those requests.

Meaning while the practice conflicted with the Criminal Code, Quebec could proceed.

Last fall, the federal government launched a national conversation to hear views on the requests advanced. its reportPublished in October 2025, did not make recommendations but found that although the principle was generally supported, there were concerns about how it could be implemented safely.

In an emailed statement, Canada’s Department of Justice spokesperson Ian MacLeod says the government is “considering the findings carefully.”

“(MAID) is an extremely personal and complex choice that impacts individuals and families through difficult and often traumatic times in their lives. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that our laws reflect the growing needs of Canadians,” the statement said.

Jocelyn Downey, emeritus professor in the faculty of law and medicine at Dalhousie University, says Quebec has shown leadership on this issue from the beginning.

“Bold and italicize and asterisk the non-partisan approach he took on this issue,” he said.

“It’s absolutely a case study of MLAs demonstrating leadership on an important social policy issue at that time, and that’s in stark contrast to the federal parliament,” he said.

Why are so many Quebecers seeking MAID?

More than 6,000 people received MAID between April 1, 2024, and March 21, 2025, representing 7.9 percent deaths in the stateAccording to a report by Quebec’s End-of-Life Commission.

Marie-Eve Bouthillier, a professor of clinical ethics at the Université de Montréal, is trying to find out why. Rate That’s so high – the highest in the world.

Bouthillier, principal co-investigator of a research project starting in 2024, says early results point to several contributing factors, includingg rates of religion in Quebec, democratic processes creating dialogue across the province, and Quebec’s integrated health system and access.

“Maybe there’s a kind of revelation or closeness to MAID that makes it more attractive,” he said.

Psychiatrist and researcher Dr. Mona Gupta says it’s difficult to put a finger on one specific factor explaining Quebec’s position on MAID. Center Hospitalier de l’Université de Montreal,

MAID evaluator who also led The federal expert panel on MAID and mental illness says Quebecers have an openness to exercising personal choice in various social practices.

“Whether it’s marriage or common-law marriage. Whether it’s abortion rights,” she said. “So in that respect, in any case, it’s a plausible hypothesis.”

‘It’s important to just have options’

Quebec was the first province to legalize the right to medically assisted death in December 2015, legalizing the practice – just before the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously overturned the legal ban on doctor-assisted suicide – Carter v. Canada.

The hesitation to move forward federally contradicted public support, which Downey had called “huge” even a decade earlier.

Downey said, “Since then it has only increased. I don’t know that Canadians agree on anything more than assisted death.”

More than three-quarters of Canadians support legislation on MAID, according to one 2024 lager report On practice. But the report found the highest proportion of support in Quebec, at nearly 86 per cent.

Demontigny Says she has met some people who told her they don’t agree with her stance or decisions.

“My answer is simple: I have my life, You have yours,” she said.

She says her decision is not about wanting to end her life – it’s about having the option to do so. She says that without it, people in her situation have taken their own lives.

“They know it will get harder and harder and they will lose dignity,” he said.

“It’s important to just have the option.”