'I feel positive about the whole thing': Growing number of Maritimers opting for medical assistance in dying

Five years after it was introduced in Canada, it seems more Canadians are seeking a doctor's assistance in ending their own lives.

The national number broke through 10,000 last year, with a growing number of Maritimers adding their names to the list.

Sheila Sperry is semi-retired after years of advocacy work with the group Dying with Dignity, but is still more than happy to talk-about the cause.

It was one she picked-up after losing her husband to ALS a little more than ten years ago -- a difficult decline and death that changed the direction of her life.

Now, five years after MAID was introduced in this country, she's feeling good about where it's gone.

"I feel very positive about the whole thing," Sperry told CTV News from her home in Dartmouth.

Controversial when it was introduced, the former Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth described doctor assisted death as one of the most difficult moral issues of our time.

"Euthanasia, as we often refer to it as 'mercy killing.' Of course, when you put in the word 'mercy' it sounds like you're doing a good thing," the Most Rev. Anthony Mancini told CTV News in March of 2016.

"Thou shalt not kill" cannot be more evidently put," he said.

Five years later, moral reservations about the issue seem to be falling by the wayside, with a growing number of people opting for a doctor's assistance in ending their lives - a number that topped more than 10,000 last year.

According to an extensive report from Health Canada, some 792 Nova Scotians have used the service, 655 New Brunswickers and 111 Prince Edward Islanders, for a total of 1,558 over the five years.

As a percentage of the total deaths in Canada, the latest number is a little more than 3 per cent, but it, too, has been rising.

“That's such a little percentage of the population though," said Sperry.

Although some parts of the country have already matched or surpassed rates in parts of Europe, where the practice has been in place for over two decades, Sperry says more work needs to be done, especially for advance requests.

"And this is really, really important for people who have any kind of dementias, those types of things," she said. "So, personally, that's the thing I really, really want."

Sperry and other advocates are also waiting for word on on expanding MAID to include so-called 'mature minors' and those with underlying mental illness.

Ongoing work for someone semi-retired, but still passionate about a cause that continues to steer the direction of her life.