Euthanasia: Canada's doctors can kill you.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An article by Nicholas Tomaino that was published by WSJ.com on September 2, 2024 titled: Welcome to Canada, the Doctor Will Kill You Now exposes how Canada legalized euthanasia (MAiD). Tomaino writes:

Canada has undergone a crash course in what the country calls “medical assistance in dying,” or MAID. The experiment began in 2015, when the Canadian Supreme Court ruled in Carter v. Canada that “laws prohibiting physician-assisted dying interfere with the liberty and security” of people with “grievous and irremediable” medical conditions. Parliament codified the decision the following year.

Lawmakers thought they were imposing limits. “We do not wish to promote premature death as a solution to all medical suffering,” then-Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould said. The plaintiff’s lead lawyer in Carter argued that “in almost every case,” doctors will want to “help their patients live, not die.” “We know physicians will be reluctant gatekeepers.”

Yet Krauthammer was right. The Superior Court of Quebec soon ruled that MAID was unconstitutional because it required that an applicant’s death from “a grievous and irremediable medical condition” be “reasonably foreseeable.” Parliament amended its “discriminatory” regime in 2021, opening wider the door to facilitated death. The new law dropped safeguards, such as the minimum 10-day assessment period between request and provision. It also proposed mental illness as an eligible condition, the implementation of which the government has delayed until 2027. The message for everyone else remains the same: If you want to die, you needn’t wait.

Tomaino is explaining how Canada legalized euthanasia and makes reference to comments by Charles Krauthammer. The short version is, Canada's Supreme Court, in 2015, struck down Canada's laws that protected people from euthanasia and assisted suicide. Parliament legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in June 2016 using the term MAiD, Medical Assistance in Dying. In 2019 a Quebec court decision (Truchon) decided that Canada's law was too restrictive because it limited killing to terminally ill people. Parliament then expanded Canada's law in March 2021 by (among other things) removing the terminal illness requirement in the law.

Alexander Raikin

Tomaino continues:

The consequence, Ethics and Public Policy Center fellow Alexander Raikin notes in a new study, is that what was meant to be exceptional has become routine. Using two government data sets, he estimates the program is at least the fifth-leading cause of death in Canada, claiming a reported 13,241 lives in 2022, up from 1,018 in 2016.

Mr. Raikin notes the government believed doctors wouldn’t merely rubber-stamp applications. Yet in 2022 more than 81% of petitions resulted in death, including for “vision/hearing loss” and “diabetes.” He documents that the percentage of denied written requests has been falling for years, from 8% in 2019 to 3.5% in 2022, even as the number of applications has increased. The upshot has been that 44,958 people have been put to death between 2016-22. One estimate, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2020, predicted that “approximately 2,000 euthanasia” cases could be expected annually. The MAID toll that year was 7,611. Thus “either in absolute numbers or when weighed as a percentage of deaths,” Canada has the “fastest-growing assisted-dying program” in the world.

Roger Foley

Tomaino comments on Roger Foley, a man who has been told by hospital staff that he should die by MAiD

Roger Foley, who suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder, cerebellar ataxia, has witnessed MAID since its infancy. In 2009, as Mr. Foley’s condition worsened, he resigned from his job at the Royal Bank of Canada. After several years in home care, in which he claims he was mistreated, he was placed in a mental-health ward.

“I became extremely suicidal,” Mr. Foley, 48, says in a Zoom interview from his bed in the hospital, where he’s lived since 2016. After he shared those thoughts with staff, he says they began to float the idea of euthanasia. That alarmed him, so he began to record conversations secretly. He later shared them with Canadian journalists.

In one, a hospital ethicist threatens Mr. Foley with denial of insurance coverage and says it would cost him “north of $1,500 a day” to stay in the hospital. When Mr. Foley protested, the ethicist retorted: “Roger, this is not my show. My piece of this was to talk to you about if you had interest in assisted dying.”

He didn’t. “I have a passion to live,” Mr. Foley says. He wants to volunteer and write songs. Many people like to “use the term ‘end suffering,’ ” he says. In practice, that means “Don’t help the sufferer, end the sufferer.”

Canadians were told that euthanasia would only be available as a last resort but in reality it has been normalized and is killing many more people than anyone anticipated.

The Rise of Euthanasia in Canada: From Exceptional to Routine.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Canada had approximately 15,280 euthanasia deaths in 2023 (Article Link).

I would like to thank Alexander Raikin for his research report on the Rise of Euthanasia in Canada that was produced for and published by Cardus.

In one week there have been three exceptional studies on Canada's euthanasia program published from different perspectives. I hope that the interest in Canada's euthanasia law will lead to changes and a social shift towards rejecting the killing of people by lethal poison.

The first study was a landmark study by Chelsea Roff and Catherine Cook-Cottone on Assisted Death and Eating Disorders. (Link 2).

The second was a research study by Professor Christopher Lyon that asked the question: Does Canada's euthanasia law enable healthcare serial killers?

This third study, by Alexander Raikin, examines the change in the attitude towards euthanasia in Canada under the title: The Rise of Euthanasia.

The Rise of Euthanasia in Canada: From Exceptional to Routine.

Alexander Raikin

The key points by Raikin are:

• The number of Canadians dying prematurely by “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) has risen thirteenfold since legalization. In 2016, the number of people dying in this way was 1,018. In 2022, the last year for which data are available, the number was 13,241.
• MAiD in Canada is the world’s fastest-growing assisted-dying program.
• MAiD is now tied with cerebrovascular diseases as the fifth leading cause of death in Canada. Only deaths from cancer, heart disease, COVID-19, and accidents exceed the number of deaths from MAiD.
• Assisted dying was not meant to become a routine way of dying. Court rulings stressed that it be a “stringently limited, carefully monitored system of exceptions.” Then Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould agreed: “We do not wish to promote premature death as a solution to all medical suffering.” The Canadian Medical Association likewise stated that MAiD was intended for rare situations.
• MAiD assessors and providers do not treat it as a last resort. The percentage of MAiD requests that are denied continues to decline (currently it is 3.5 percent). MAiD requests can be assessed and provided in a single day.
• Government departments and agencies continue to state that Canada’s MAiD experience is similar to that of other jurisdictions, that the rate of increase is expected, and that the growth is gradual. The data contradict these statements.
• Health Canada has dramatically underestimated what a “steady state” of MAiD deaths would look like and how quickly Canada would reach the 4 percent threshold of total deaths. This threshold was reached in 2022, eleven years ahead of what Health Canada predicted only months earlier, and double its prediction just four years earlier.
• Despite the importance of accurate vital statistics, some provinces’ death records do not record MAiD as a cause of death, instead recording the underlying condition that led to the MAiD request and subsequent death. Further, Health Canada reports on the number of MAiD deaths, but Statistics Canada does not consider MAiD a cause of death. These inconsistencies in reporting have an impact on research about MAiD and about causes of death more generally.
• The systematic underestimation of MAiD in government statements and reporting is a serious impediment to understanding the scale of MAiD’s normalization in Canada and its abnormality with regard to other countries where some form of assisted dying is permitted.
• For policymakers and the public to properly understand the Canadian reality, it is essential that government agencies collect consistent data and issue correct statements.

Euthanasia was sold to Canadians as a "last resort" but in fact it has been normalized as "medical treatment." The number of Canadian euthanasia deaths has far exceeded the projected numbers and euthanasia has been falsely asserted to be a "right" in Canada.

Canada's Justice Minister wants to expand euthanasia to people with mental illness alone.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

An article by Brian Platt published on November 24 in the National Post indicates that Canada's Justice Minister David Lametti told the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee, that is studying euthanasia Bill C-7, that he hopes that the euthanasia law will expand to people with mental illness. Platt reported:

Lametti said he believes the government has found the right balance in respecting the dignity of people with disabilities, and also their right to end their life if their suffering is too great.

Lametti also said he hopes the medical assistance in dying (MAID) regime will eventually be further expanded to people who are suffering solely from mental illness, but the government doesn’t have enough time to do it before a court-ordered deadline of Dec. 18 for this bill to pass.

The Canadian government introduced Bill C-7 in February, claiming that it was in response to the Quebec Superior Court decision that struck down the requirement in the law that a person’s "natural death be reasonably foreseeable" to die by MAiD. Bill C-7 was re-introduced on October 5, 2020 after parliament returned from being prorogued. 

*Sign and share the EPC Petition: Reject euthanasia Bill C-7 (Link).

Lametti told the Senate committee that the government  euthanasia for mental illness out of legislation for now, due to a lack of consensus. Platt reported that Lametti stated:

“We know that those with mental illness can suffer unbearably, that mental illness can be debilitating and that it can profoundly impact quality of life,” he said. But he said some mental illnesses “present unique, practical and ethical challenges.”

“Unlike most physical illnesses, many mental illnesses follow unpredictable illness trajectories for which there is always the possibility of a sudden improvement or recovery,” he said. “This means that in some experts’ view it is impossible to predict for any given individual whether their symptoms will one day show improvement or endure for the rest of their lives.”

Platt explains that critics of Bill C-7 include people with disabilities, palliative care experts and even Jody Wilson-Raybould, the former Justice Minister, who steered Bill C-14 through parliament in 2016.

Platt also wrote that disability rights group, Inclusion Canada, told the Senate committee that Bill C-7: 

“would signal that these Canadians are expendable and threaten their lives, dignity and belonging.”

Hon Jody Wilson-Raybould

In the House of Commons Wilson-Raybould questioned the decision of the government to remove the 10-day reflection period in the law. Wilson-Raybould reportedly said:

“Nothing in the Truchon decision of the Quebec (court), which the government chose not to appeal, requires this, and the Supreme Court of Canada, in Carter, insisted on the requirement of clear consent,”

“Palliative care physicians, disability advocates and other experts insist that this is an important safeguard.”

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition presented to the Senate Justice committee on November 24.

Euthanasia in Canada: What has happened to democracy?

Alex Schadenberg

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, 
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Last January, Prime Minister Trudeau replaced Hon. Jody Wilson-Raybould and appointed Hon. David Lametti as Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada. Wilson-Raybould was replaced because she refused to change her mind when pressured by Trudeau in the SNC Lavalin affair.

I was very concerned by Lametti's appointment because Lametti had voted against Canada's euthanasia bill because he thought that it was too restrictive.

Hon David Lametti

Soon after, Lametti, in an interview with Tonda MacCharles from the Toronto Star, stated that the government would not expand Canada's euthanasia law before the five-year review that was to begin in June 2020. MacCharles reported:

Any changes would have to wait until the conclusion of a five-year parliamentary review about how the new regime is working. 

“the parliamentary process struck “an important balance” that he respects, and a five-year review would be able to assess “data” and “evidence” about the impact the law is having.

On September 11, a Quebec Superior court judge struck down the requirement, in Canada's euthanasia law, that a person's "natural death must be reasonably foreseeable." This section of the law was not defined but it did prevent people from being lethally injected based on psychological reasons alone. 

The Quebec court gave the Quebec and Federal governments 30 days, or until October 11 to appeal the decision. But alas, Canada was in the middle of a federal election.

During the French language leaders debate Prime Minister Trudeau decided to ignore democracy and the promise by his government to uphold the current euthanasia law until after the completion of a five-year review (June 2021). Trudeau stated that the government will not appeal the Quebec court decision and the Liberals would amend the current euthanasia law soon after the election.

Jody Wilson-Raybould - David Lametti

Remember that Wilson-Raybould was removed as the Justice Minister and Attorney General of Canada because she refused to be influenced by Trudeau in the SNC Lavalin affair. Wilson-Raybould stated that it was not a political decision but a decision based on the independent role as the Attorney General.

Similarly it is undue influence for Trudeau to announce that the government will not appeal the Quebec court decision? Trudeau had no right to politically interfere in a legal decision. 

Even if Trudeau agreed with the court decision, the decision should still have been appealed based on the language of the decision and the precedent that it establishes. Political interference should not have been allowed in this case either.

Finally, what is the point of a five-year review if the law is amended before the review? 

What has happened to democracy in Canada?

Ottawa asks Québec to postpone implementation of euthanasia law.

By Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Canada's new Justice Minister, Jody Wilson-Raybould, wants Québec to wait until the federal government has legislated on assisted dying, before Québec implements its own euthanasia law, that was to begin on December 10, 2015. 

Send a message and sign our online petition to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.

According to Le Devoir (translated from French):

If it was up to the new Federal Justice Minister, medical aid in dying would not be available in Quebec starting next December 10. Jody Wilson-Raybould would like the province to suspend the application of its law on time for Ottawa concocts his own. 

"We'd like to avoid the uncertainty of our approach about medical aid in dying by having the federal legislative framework implemented before the legislation in Quebec is effective", said Ms. Wilson-Raybould in an interview with Le Devoir Wednesday. When asked ... if it means that she would like Québec to wait, the Minister answered "yes".

The Supreme Court of Canada made a dangerous and irresponsible decision to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide on February 6, 2015 and to give parliament only 12 months to bring forth new legislation. Since Canada had an election on October 19, implementing new legislation by February 6, 2016 was impossible.

EPC is urging  the Justice Minister to use the notwithstanding clause, or at least, ask the Supreme Court of Canada for an extension. Send a message and sign our online petition to Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould.

EPC intervened, on November 24, in a court action by the Physicians Alliance for Social Justice to obtain an injunction to prevent the December 10, implementation of the Québec euthanasia law. The judge is likely to release a judgement on Monday.

More information about the Québec euthanasia law:

• Québec trying to force physician participation in euthanasia.
• Québec euthanasia kit offers no effective oversight over life and death.
• Concealing euthanasia as the cause of death is a recipe for disaster.
• Québec doctors survey indicates that euthanasia will be abused.