OTTAWA (LifeSiteNews) — Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre praised news that a parliamentary committee recommended euthanasia not be expanded to those with mental illness.

“Thousands of lives will be saved because we forced Liberals to back down from MAID for mental illness,” Poilievre wrote in an X post on June 17.

Poilievre praised pro-life MPs Tamara Jansen, Michael Cooper, and Andrew Lawton for fighting to tell their personal stories and opinions to the committee to help euthanasia expansion. “Keep the hope alive. Keep the fight alive,” he added.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying recommended on June 17 against the planned expansion of euthanasia in Canada to those with mental illness.

The committee recommended that the “Government of Canada amend the Criminal Code to indefinitely exclude persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness from eligibility for medical assistance in dying on the grounds that the evidentiary and systemic conditions necessary for safe and equitable implementation cannot presently be met.”

The Canadian government created the Special Joint Parliamentary Committee for MAiD in March. It is filled with euthanasia backers, but Lawton is one of the few pro-life members of the committee.

The expansion of euthanasia for the mentally ill is slated to become law in 2027 as a consequence of the passage of Bill C-7.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, Canada’s Catholic bishops have said they “support” Bill C-218, which would stop the planned expansion of assisted suicide.

While Poilievre is not a pro-life stalwart, his comments about euthanasia are welcome and in line with the majority of Conservative MPs on life issues.

Canada’s Catholic bishops, recently reflecting on the “sobering” 10th anniversary of euthanasia legalization, called for a renewed respect for “life” and a rejection of the “complacency with the status quo on euthanasia in Canada” today, noting the deadly practice can “never” be morally acceptable.

MAiD has become so prolific in Canada that one doctor even approved the procedure in a coffee shop parking lot.