Canadian writer Robert Munsch approved for assisted dying

Celebrated children’s writer Robert Munsch has been approved for medically assisted dying in Canada.

Munsch, whose 85 published books include The Paper Bag Princess and Love You Forever, was diagnosed with dementia in 2021 and also has Parkinson’s disease.

The 80-year-old author told the New York Times Magazine that he had not decided a date for his death, but said he would go “when I start having real trouble talking and communicating. Then I’ll know.”

Canada first legalised euthanasia in 2016 for people with terminal illnesses. In 2021, the law was changed to include those with serious and chronic physical conditions, even in non-life threatening circumstances.

Munsch has sold more than 80 million copies of his books in North America alone and they have been translated into at least 20 language – including Arabic, Spanish and Anishinaabemowin, an indigenous North American language.

In 1999, Munsch was made a member of the Order of Canada. A decade later, he received a star of Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto.

In the interview with the New York Times Magazine, Munsch said his decision was influenced by watching his brother die from Lou Gehrig’s disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – the most common form of motor neurone disease (MND).

Munsch said: “They kept him alive through all these interventions. I thought, let him die.”

In Canada, people over 18 must meet several requirements to be eligible for assisted dying.

They include having a “serious and incurable illness”, making a “voluntary request that is not the result of external pressure” and be in an “advanced state of irreversible decline in capability”.

Two independent doctors or nurse practitioners must then assess the patient to confirm that all of the eligibility requirements are met.

Scholastic, Munsch’s publisher, said in a statement on Instagram that his decision to speak publicly about medically assisted dying “reminds us, once again, why Robert’s work continues to touch many generations”.

Munsch’s daugher, Julie, posted on Facebook that her father’s decision to pursue medically assisted dying was made five years ago.

Julie called the New York Times Magazine interview “great”, but added that “nowhere does it say my dad isn’t doing well, nor that he’s going to die anytime soon”.

According to Canadian law, the person must be able to actively consent on the day of his death.

“I have to pick the moment when I can still ask for it,” he said in the interview.

Medically assisted dying accounted for 4.7% of deaths in Canada in 2023 – the most recent official government statistics.

Some 96% of the 15,300 people that underwent assisted dying in 2023 had a death deemed “reasonably forseeable”, due to severe medical conditions like cancer.