Get Talking! Consent and Conflict of Interest: Navigating Ethics in Healthcare with a focus on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) for mental illness
Get Talking! is an in-person discussion series focused on the most challenging issues facing healthcare today including equitable access to care, legislation, funding, delivery, and innovation. It is intended to showcase multiple perspectives and create a forum for a constructive, respectful discussion.
Join us for Consent and Conflict of Interest: Navigating Ethics in Healthcare with a focus on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) for mental illness.
Host
Speakers
Dr. K. Sonu Gaind, Professor at the University of Toronto, President of the Ontario District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association
Claire Brosseau, member of Dying with Dignity patient advocacy group.
Gilbert Sharpe, TRP Instructor and Mentor-in-Residence
When and where
In person on Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 4 - 6 pm ET
TRP Auditorium
263 McCaul St. Toronto, ON
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Speaker bios
Dr. K. Sonu Gaind
Dr. Gaind is a Professor at the University of Toronto, President of the Ontario District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association and serves on the Board of the World Federation for Mental Health. His clinical expertise is psycho-oncology and he is past chief of psychiatry of two large Toronto Hospitals, Humber River Hospital and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. He has been involved in medical and academic leadership throughout his career, serving six years as a Governor at the University of Toronto, and he is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), an Honorary Member of the World Psychiatric Association, Chair of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Relativity Advisory Committee and an Executive Member and Medical Practice & Tariff Chair of the OMA Section on Psychiatry, and a Past President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association, the Ontario Psychiatric Association and PAIRO. He represented Canada internationally on the Board of the World Psychiatric Association from 2017 to 2020 (and in the more distant past, represented the country on Canada’s two first International Physics Olympiad teams).
Dr. Gaind has been actively involved in health policy development and advocacy since residency. As Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) policies have been evolving in Canada, Dr.Gaind has testified before over half a dozen Senate and Parliamentary Committees on MAiD on issues relevant to mental health and mental illness that need to be considered in the MAiD framework, and the most recent January 2024 MAiD and Mental Disorders Parliamentary Report extensively referenced Dr. Gaind's testimony in explaining the rationale for its recommendations. In addition to numerous peer-reviewed publications, international columns and editorials, and book chapters, Dr. Gaind is co-editor of the comprehensive volume “Unravelling MAiD in Canada: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide as Medical Care”, published last year by McGill/Queen’s University Press.
Dr. Gaind believes medical experts have an obligation to help guide health policies with evidence, not just ideology, and to consider the impacts of public policies on the most marginalized to avoid perpetuating policies of privilege. He has been recognized with numerous regional, provincial, national and international awards for his teaching, advocacy and impact, including in the past year being awarded three major international awards for his work, the APA Distinguished Service Award, the APA Profile of Courage Award (he is the second Canadian to receive the Distinguished Service Award in its 60+ year history, and the only individual to be awarded both the Distinguished Service and Profile of Courage Award), and the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology Ethics Award.
Claire Brosseau
Read about Claire in the New York Times
The full series
- 30 September, 2025: Healthcare Entrepreneurship in Action: Innovation at the Intersection of Medicine and Business
- 4 November, 2025: Pathways to Leadership: Careers in Healthcare and Innovation
- 2 December, 2025: Justice, Policy, and Mental Health: Making the Connection
- 27 January, 2026: Consent and Conflict of Interest: Navigating Ethics in Healthcare
- 24 February, 2026: Dispelling Myths Around Hospice and Palliative Care: A Focus on Advance Care Planning
- 7 April, 2026: Restructuring Healthcare Systems: Lessons, Challenges, and Opportunities