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TORONTO — Remarks made by a member of Parliament, who is also a doctor, suggesting illicit drugs such as fentanyl are a “painless” and “readily available” option to end one’s life are now the subject of a complaint filed to the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
The complainant, Claire Brosseau, a 49-year-old woman who has been trying to get access to medical assistance in dying for persistent mental disorders that began when she was a child, said she was triggered by Dr. Marcus Powlowski’s “irresponsible, thoughtless and dangerous” words.
She takes issue with his supplementary opinion, attached to a special joint committee report published in June on medical assistance in dying and mental disorders as a sole underlying medical condition. In it, he wrote:
“The option to end one’s life remains, irrespective of MAID, readily available in Canada. Furthermore, there are painless options readily available. One example being illicit narcotics like fentanyl. To my dismay it is arguably easier for my teenage sons to access fentanyl in my hometown of Thunder Bay than it is for me (a doctor) to renew my Lipitor prescription (a cholesterol medication).”
The quote is included in Powlowski’s written argument against expanding access to MAID for mental illness until fundamental concerns are addressed. He outlines his reasons, saying it is impossible to determine that a person’s mental illness is irremediable, as required by law. He also raises the issue of access to mental health services and social supports, and says testimony from practitioners suggests there is no consensus on how to distinguish suicidality from rational decision-making.
In a section titled “Why do we try to prevent suicide?,” Powlowski analyzes the role of authorities in intervening in suicide attempts in order to prevent harm, versus personal autonomy. It’s there that the lines Brosseau takes issue with are written.
From Brosseau’s perspective, “He gave us information on how to kill ourselves,” she said in an interview from bed in Toronto, where she says she spends most of her days, hair bundled in a bandana.
Her written complaint has been reviewed by The Canadian Press, along with her emails with an investigator from the regulatory college, who said in the correspondence that Powlowski has until Oct. 22 to file a response before it goes to a committee for review.
However, Powlowski’s chief of staff said that the Liberal MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River, who was an emergency room doctor before he was elected in 2019, had not received notification of the complaint and did not want to answer questions about it.
“He prepared something, but in the end, he decided he doesn’t want to comment on it,” William Fassett, his chief of staff, said over a phone call.
The college said it could not confirm whether an investigation was underway because the complaints process is confidential.
On Wednesday, the federal government said it will introduce legislation this fall that would bar people suffering solely from a mental illness to access medical assistance in dying.
THE COMPLAINT
Brosseau acknowledges in the complaint that a member of Parliament is entitled to freedom of speech. And though she was personally pained by the findings of the parliamentary committee — which Powlowski was the co-chair of and which recommended the federal government “indefinitely pause” an expansion of MAID to people with mental disorders — she says her complaint is separate from all of that.
“In a public document dealing directly with suicide, mental illness and medical practice, he stated that ending one’s life is ‘readily available,’ characterized illicit fentanyl as a ‘painless’ option, and added that fentanyl is arguably easier for his teenage sons to obtain than it is for him to renew a prescription,” Brosseau wrote.
“Those statements identify and normalize a lethal means, present a medically misleading account of opioid poisoning, and create a foreseeable risk of harm to vulnerable readers.”
Brosseau argues that Powlowski positions suicide in an attractive manner, contrary to the college’s standards, which characterize unprofessional behaviour as “words, actions or inactions by a physician that interfere with (or may interfere with) the delivery of quality care, public trust in the profession, the safety or perceived safety of others.”
“It is therefore reasonable for the college to examine whether the statement was misleading and whether Dr. Powlowski adequately considered its foreseeable impact,” Brosseau states in the complaint.
“It triggered me and I’m not the only one,” she said.
Avery Teplitsky, who says he’s spent most of his life in the mental health system, said he was also outraged by the level of disregard coming from someone who is both a doctor and an elected official. “It’s just completely missing the entire point,” Teplitsky, 53, said of Powlowski’s remarks.
In a blog post for Dying with Dignity, Justin Dickie also wrote about the fentanyl comments from his perspective as someone who lives with depression. “Does this sound like an unbiased party to you?” he wrote in August.
Less than a week before Brosseau filed the complaint, a Toronto judge denied her motion for a constitutional exemption from a law that currently prevents people from applying for MAID on the basis of mental illness alone.
She is also the plaintiff in a constitutional challenge, arguing that excluding Canadians whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness from accessing MAID is a breach of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
“I’m clinging to life by my fingernails,” she said.
Brosseau said she does not care if the timing of her complaint looks strategic with her court battle – she just wants Powlowski to acknowledge the danger of his remarks.
The regulatory college says complaints can result in issuing advice to a doctor on how to improve their practice or conduct; requiring remedial self-study; ordering the doctor to take specific courses; issuing a verbal caution; or, where appropriate, referring the matter to the Ontario Physicians and Surgeons Discipline Tribunal.
Brosseau said she wants Powlowski to make a public statement taking back what he said, and informing people of what happens when you overdose on fentanyl, including how awful it is.
“But what I want and what’s going to happen are two very different things.”
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, support is available 24-7 by calling or texting 988, Canada’s national suicide prevention helpline.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 10, 2026.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Hannah Alberga, The Canadian Press
