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Robert Munsch Says He Intends to Use Canada’s Assisted Dying Law After Dementia Diagnosis

Under MAID rules, he must choose a time when he can still give consent to the procedure.

Author Robert Munsch laughs during an interview with The Canadian Press in Toronto on Thursday Jan. 23, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn
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Robert Munsch is shown during an interview with The Canadian Press in Toronto on Thursday January 23, 2014.
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Overview

  • The 80-year-old author disclosed in a New York Times profile that he was approved for MAID shortly after his 2021 dementia diagnosis and later learned he also has Parkinson’s, and he has not set a date.
  • He said he plans to proceed when he begins having serious trouble talking and communicating, a choice shaped in part by watching a brother’s prolonged death from ALS.
  • His daughter, Julie Munsch, clarified on social media that he is not dying imminently and that he is currently doing well.
  • Canadian law requires decision-making capacity at the time of death, and a 2021 waiver of final consent exists for some cases but carries limits and safeguards.
  • Publishers including Scholastic Canada posted tributes and expressions of gratitude after the profile brought his decision to wider attention.