When death comes casually, Euthanasia is out of control in Canada.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Lorne Gunter, who is a columnist and an editorial board member with the National Post wrote an excellent article that was published in the Edmonton Journal on June 24, 2026 titled: When death comes casually, MAiD out of control.

Gunter begins his article by stating that Canada legalized euthanasia 10 years ago and since parliament legalized it:

...we have become the leading country in the world for having doctors speed the deaths of their patients with a suicidal cocktail of powerful drugs.

Gunter explains how euthanasia is done:

First, there is usually an IV of sedatives to ease the patient’s stress and anxiety. Then comes a high concentration of anesthetics that lead to deep unconsciousness or coma. Finally, death is induced through neuromuscular blockers that stop the heart and end breathing.

Gunter then discusses the number of euthanasia deaths that occur on a yearly basis, comparing Canada's euthanasia deaths (16,499 in 2024) to the Netherlands. He then comments on the rapid increase in euthanasia in Canada.

Another problem is the growing number of doctors who are prepared to sign off on just about anyone’s request.

When MAID began ... patients had to have a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” — an incurable illness, disease, or disability in an advanced state of irreversible decline. Death had to be expected within six months or patients often had to wait until they were nearing the end.

Gunter is nearly correct. The original law did not require a person to have a 6 month prognosis, it required that a person's - "natural death be reasonably foreseeable" which was never defined in the law, nonetheless, Canada's euthanasia law expanded in 2021 by removing the requirement that a person be terminally ill.

Gunter then writes about the recent story of the Tim Horton's approval.

Now a doctor will meet you in the parking lot of Tim Hortons and, in between ordering a double-double and some Timbits, sign off on your MAID request.

That’s not an example I made up for emphasis. It actually happened in Ontario.

A London, Ont. physician, Dr. James MacLean, met with a man who had inflammatory bowel disease outside a local Tims. Inflammatory bowel disease is often very painful and there is no cure, but there are surgeries and medications to control the symptoms. The man’s other complaint was a history of mental health issues, which are not supposed to be a basis for MAID. After meeting with the man outside Tims, MacLean personally drove him to the place MAID was performed.

Gunter then writes about the euthanasia death of Kiano Vafaeian:

Kiano Vafaeian, a 26-year-old Ontario man died by MAID last Dec. 30 in a Vancouver funeral home. He had tried several times in his home province to receive MAID for a painful nerve disorder and blindness, both resulting from his Type 1 diabetes.

But after calling a Vancouver-area clinic, he flew out unbeknownst to his family and was promptly euthanized.

It is important to note that on June 17 Canada's parliamentary euthanasia committee advised the government to reverse the part of the law that was to allow euthanasia for mental illness beginning on March 17, 2027.