MAiD Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Canada is widely seen as one of the world’s most progressive nations in the world, “leading the way” (depending on where you stand) on a variety of social issues. But in recent months, Canada has been garnering some less than savoury international attention because of the dark side of one of its recent progressive accomplishments, namely the assisted suicide regime that has been created since the Supreme Court struck down prohibitions on assisted suicide in 2015. The tragic situation that has developed in Canada offers a warning to other countries considering going down a similar path, both to be cautious about opening the assisted suicide floodgates and about empowering judges to decide whether such things should be allowed.

More Canadians are ending their lives with a medically-assisted death, says the third federal annual report on medical assistance in dying (MAID). Data shows that 10,064 people died in 2021 with medical aid, an increase of 32 per cent over 2020.

The report says that 3.3 per cent of all deaths in Canada in 2021 were assisted deaths. On a provincial level, the rate was higher in provinces such as Quebec, at 4.7 per cent, and British Columbia, at 4.8 per cent.

Is euthanasia the ‘unspoken solution to the problem of an aging population promised ‘free’ and unlimited health care?’

…Euthanasia activists and the media have been incredibly successful in glorifying euthanasia. Something that was until recently criminal has suddenly become accepted as a default moral position.

One advocate says, “If you can’t practise medicine because you can’t do an effective (euthanasia) referral, then you shouldn’t be in medicine.” Another believes it’s a doctor’s duty to do whatever is legal and that the practitioner’s independent thoughts about what is best for the patient have no place in health care.

Can you think of any societies in our recent history where this sort of thinking went awry?

Canadians appear uncertain about extending medical assistance in dying to children or those with a mental disorder, according to a new poll that suggests the public is not as galvanized around MAID as the government looks to broaden eligibility.

Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) law is already the most permissive euthanasia and assisted-suicide legislation in the world.

Can we “volunteer” Trudeau? Our euthanasia legislation seems to be morphing into eugenics.

Although considered among the most permissive euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation in the world, Canada is poised to introduce mental illnesses to the country’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) legislation.

“… Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAiD) law is the most permissive euthanasia and assisted-suicide legislation in the world. The United Nations (UN) special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, the UN independent expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, and the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, have all warned our Canadian government that our MAiD law will lead to human rights violations.”

Contracting COVID-19 radically changed Tracey Thompson’s life. It’s been more than two years since the initial infection, but her symptoms still dictate her days, leaving her with heavy-weighted fatigue, robbing her of energy and her ability to work.

Thompson, a Toronto resident in her 50s, says the enduring illness and lack of substantive financial support has led her to begin the process of applying for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), a procedure that first became legal in Canada in 2016.

“[MAiD] is exclusively a financial consideration,” she told CTV News Toronto.

Saskatchewan Senator and former news broadcast icon, Pamela Wallin, is offering Canadians an unthinkable choice in her newly tabled Bill S-248. It is the choice to allow a doctor or nurse to kill you in the future.

Under Bill S-248, if you are ill or disabled, you can sign an advanced directive that authorizes your healthcare provider to act as Grim Reaper once they determine you are incapacitated. Your death will be in their hands – and you can’t change your mind!

The Netherlands and Belgium already permit people diagnosed with dementia to sign an advance directive ordering themselves killed when they become incapacitated. This has even resulted in one case in which such a patient was euthanized despite resisting — and the government responded by changing the law to enable death-doctors to drug and euthanize such patients without permission.

Now Canada — which last year greatly loosened the criteria for euthanasia — may be on the verge of taking the same path. A bill has been filed in the Senate that would permit patients to order themselves killed without final consent if they become mentally incapacitated.