Ontario: 25% of euthanasia providers may have violated the Criminal Code.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Alexander Raikin

On November 12 I published a commentary on Alexander Raikin's research essay that was published in The New Atlantis that I titled: Ontario: At least 428 non-compliant (MAiD) euthanasia deaths. After publishing the article several people emailed me suggesting that compliant or non-compliant, all euthansia deaths involve the killing of a human being and are inherently wrong. I agree.

On November 18, Alexander Raikin's article: A quarter of all Ontario MAiD providers may have violated the Criminal Code. Does Anyone Care? was published by The Hub. Raikin's article is based on the same research that led to his earlier article, accept that his most recent article adds significant historical context to the issue.

Raikin begins his article by stating that Canada legalized (MAiD) euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada as an exception to the criminal code when it is done based on specificied circumstances, and outside of those circumstances these acts remain criminal acts. Raikin states:

In 2016, following a unanimous Supreme Court ruling in Carter v. Canada, Justin Trudeau decriminalized culpable homicide and counselling or aiding suicide in the Criminal Code, only if done by a physician or a nurse practitioner and if each eligibility requirement for MAID is met. Otherwise, clinicians would not be immune through these exemptions in the Criminal Code.

Some of these requirements include having a grievous and irremediable medical condition, a voluntary request to die not because of external pressure, and the ability to give informed consent. Failure by a physician or a nurse practitioner to submit necessary information on a MAID provision—or failure to inform a pharmacist of the purpose of the MAID prescriptions or to follow provincial guidelines—is also punishable by a prison sentence. It means that a clinician who does not follow any of these rules faces serious criminal punishment.

Raikin points out that even CAMAP (The Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers agrees with that statement. Their position statement:

“recognizes the need for oversight,” including the guiding principle that it “maintains the public trust and provides accountability for the delivery of MAID against the legislative framework and safeguards.”

Raikin points out that CAMAP lobbied the government to reduce oversight of Canada's euthanasia law.

Yet at the 2018 annual convention for CAMAP, the official summary of the proceedings also described how Quebec’s independent monitoring for assisted dying, Commission des soins de fin de vie, was too thorough: “Reviewing 43 percent of all MAID cases is considered harassment by providers.” CAMAP won. In the 2023 fiscal year, the independent monitoring agency in Quebec sent for further review only 4 percent of MAID cases; and in Ontario, the chief coroner of Ontario classified only 6 percent of MAID cases for full review.

In response Raikin points out that leading euthanasia doctors claim that there is nothing to worry about. Stefanie Green, the past president of the CAMAP said:

“If I break the rules anywhere, there’s criminal liability sitting in the back of my head,”

While Chantal Perrot recently told The Guardian that:

“I have never heard of a case of the MAID criteria being applied wrongly or abusively, or someone who has received MAID who should not have. I’ve heard of none reported by any of the coroner’s offices or any of their provincial oversight groups.”

In response, Raikin published the August 2023 statement by Michel Bureau, the head of Quebec’s independent monitoring board who stated that MAID cases in Quebec 

“are approaching the limits of the law.” 

Raikin also reminds the readers that in 2018, Dirk Huyer, the Chief Coroner of Ontario indicated that there was:

“a pattern of non-compliance, a pattern of not following legislation, a pattern of not following regulation.”

Raikin also points out that a study conducted by Huyer on the first 100 euthanasia deaths in Ontario indicated that from the inception of the law that there was a pattern of non-compliance.

Raikin explains that Huyer told a group of Nurse Practitioners in 2018 that there were

“some…compliance concerns with both the Criminal Code and regulatory body policy expectations, some of which have recurred over time.”

Raikin points out how non-compliance in Ontario has only worsened. The Ontario Chief Coroner (Huyer) pointed out that:

In 2020, his office identified 76 “issues with compliance,” and in 2024 his office identified 428 “issues with compliance.”

Raikin states that the recent report of the Ontario MAiD Death Review Committee found:

A quarter of all Ontario euthanasia providers received at least one compliance issue in 2023, though not a single provider was reported to the police, not even the provider who administered a death that the chief coroner described as “a blatant situation” where “the family and the deceased person suffered tremendously.”

Raikin concludes his article by stating:

It is difficult to understand how these accusations of non-compliance with MAID legislation have remained hidden for so long by all the parties responsible. No provincial report, no coroner statement, not even a leak from a concerned MAID provider or assessor. On the provincial subreddit for Ontario, my article was banned for spouting “false information with the intent to mislead.” It is as good an answer as any: compliance concerns with the Criminal Code are happening, but it seems no one cares.

Previous articles on this topic:

• Ontario: At least 428 non-compliant euthanasia deaths (Link).
• Euthanasia is being used to kill people in poverty, isolation and social suffering (Link).
• Ontario MAiD Death Review stories. Do you have a (MAiD) death story (Link).
• Canadians with disabilities are needlessly dying by euthanasia (Link).
• Ontario Coroner's euthanasia report. Poor at risk of coercion (Link).
• Ontario Chief Coroner report. Some euthanasia deaths are driven by homelessness, fear and isolation (Link).