Dr John Maher: Death is being falsely presented as the only option.

The official text of the presentation by Dr John Maher on MAID for mental illness at AMAD Hearings, April 21, 2026.

Dr John Maher

Merci beaucoup pour l’invitation.

I am Chief of Psychiatry at an Ontario hospital, a medical ethicist, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, and president of both the Ontario and global associations of tertiary care ACT teams who take care of the very sickest mentally ill patients.

For the last 23 years I have treated patients that other psychiatrists told me could not get better…and yet they get better. Suffering can always be reduced. With dozens of validated psychotherapy modalities, hundreds of medication combinations, and myriad psychosocial interventions there is absolutely no such thing as “everything has been tried” despite what some patients say, and despite what some psychiatrists who lack skill, knowledge, or perseverance say. Death is being falsely presented as the only option.

You seek my evidence because I have particularly relevant experience and knowledge. How do you know who is right when my statements conflict with others? Tragically, ableism and stigmatization are never defeated because of clear logical points made about social fairness. Ideology pays lip service to reason while amplifying misinformation.

I presented on this same issue at a Senate hearing in 2021. My rage has since given way to profound sadness because the same misrepresentations keep being repeated by the same players. The issues have not changed in 5 years. The facts, however, have been made clearer. People are already getting MAID for psychiatric reasons under the guise of flimsy medical excuses, prolific MAID providers are happy to assist with suicides while people are on wait lists for effective treatment, MAID is being offered to veterans and disabled people and people with very treatable illnesses, irremediability is known to be impossible to predict for mental illnesses, and patients will doctor shop until dead.

Orwellian doublethink has been rampant. MAID activists say MAID is not suicide, that “irremediable” means you can’t get better right this minute, that suffering is best relieved by death, and that the health care system cares about you so much it will help you kill yourself. People need lifeguards, not someone to push you under.

Only 1 in 3 adults and only 1 in 5 children in Canada have access to the mental health care they need. The general public is not aware of this appalling and intentional lack of services.

The Mental Health Commission tells us we could save billions by paying for upstream services that we know work. Instead we let people get sick downstream and it costs us billions more than necessary. Billions.

So why don’t we provide care that we know works and is extremely cost effective? And why are any of you supporting suicide instead of the care that prevents suicide?

The answer is stigma, ableism, false economic claims, and a distorted view of autonomy. Please stop pretending autonomy is some detached rational enterprise…very sick people are actually driven by fear, desperation, and hopelessness borne of the illnesses we undertreat and don’t treat. If you have to help someone kill themselves then they are not acting autonomously. I am tired of the farcical news stories citing people who have been trying to kill themselves “for decades” and are demanding that a doctor help them.

There is laughable conceptual distinction put forward by MAID activists that MAID is well thought out and true suicides are impulsive. Decades of suicide research put the lie to this. 80% of suicide attempters thoughtfully plan their suicides. MAID is suicide par excellence…like having a wedding planner to make it all as easy as possible with same day service.

The Harvard School of Public Health showed that 90% of people who attempt suicide do not go on to complete suicide following treatment. With the right treatment suicidal thinking disappears.

The rates of suicide in jurisdictions that have MAID (specifically Oregon, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium and Australia) have risen much faster after it was legalized than before; “suicide contagion” is a well proven reality. Don’t pretend it won’t happen in Canada.

72% of Canadians oppose MAID for mental illness. Over 90% of psychiatrists are opposed. You should listen. But mostly you should stop and try to imagine what it is like to be given up on. If you have never tasted raw, hopeless, despair then stand boldly behind your absurd claim that we should all be entitled to suicide facilitation. If you have known the suffering of those you are inviting to death then you can’t pretend this planned social travesty is anything but accursed ignorance.

Merci.John Maher MD FRCPC
Chief of Psychiatry, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital
Psychiatrist, CMHA South Georgian Bay ACT Team
President, Ontario Association for ACT & FACT
President, Global Assertive Community Treatment Association
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Ethics in Mental Health

Canadians are getting euthanasia for reasons that are illegal.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Dr John Maher

Sharon Kirkey reported for the National Post on April 22, 2026 that Psychiatrist Dr. John Maher told the Special Joint Parliamentary Committee that is weighing Canada’s plan to extend euthanasia to those with a mental disorder alone that:

People with mental illnesses are already dying assisted deaths in Canada “under the guise of flimsy medical excuses” and others will “doctor shop until death” if euthanasia is allowed for psychiatric suffering alone.

 “I and other colleagues are experiencing this: People are clearly getting MAID for reasons that are frankly illegal,”

Kirkey also reported Maher's comments that Canada's euthanasia law may lead to a suicide contagion effect:

Maher, who specializes in treating severe mental illness, also warned Canada risks a “suicide contagion” effect if medical assistance in dying (MAID) becomes seen as a legitimate option for mental suffering. He pointed to the Werther Effect, a phenomenon that refers to a rise in suicides after publicized reports of celebrity deaths by suicide.

 Rates of suicide in jurisdictions that have legalized doctor-assisted death “have risen much faster after it was legalized than before,” he said.

“Suicide contagion is a well-proven reality. Don’t pretend that it won’t happen in Canada,” he said.

Euthanasia academic activist, Jocelyn Downie told the Special Joint Parliamentary Committee a few weeks ago that preventing euthanasia for people with mental illness will lead to violent other suicides. 

Research by Jim van Os, a Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Public Health at Utrecht University Medical Centre, in The Netherlands was published on April 22, 2026 by Cambridge University Press, examined the relationship between suicide and youth psychiatric euthanasia. Based on research conducted on 353 young people who had requested euthanasia that for every 10 young people who die by euthanasia based on mental illness, only one of the ten would likely have died by suicide if euthanasia was not an option.

Kirkey reported that Maher, who is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health and works with specialized teams that treat the most severe mental illnesses said that:

“people are getting MAID for psychiatric reasons under the guise of flimsy medical excuses, prolific MAID providers are happy to assist with suicide while people are on wait lists for effective treatment (and) MAID is being offered to veterans, disabled people and people with very treatable illnesses,”

Maher said that:

 “People need lifeguards, not someone to push you under,” 

Kirkey also reported Maher as stating:

“Decades of suicide research put the lie to this: 80 per cent of suicide attempters thoughtfully plan their suicides,” he said.

“MAID is suicide par excellence, like having a wedding planner to make it all as easy as possible, even with same-day service.”

Canada has scheduled euthanasia for psychiatric conditions alone to begin on March 17, 2027. The Special Joint Parliamentary Committee is examining whether or not Canada should extend euthanasia to people with mental illness next March.

Meanwhile, Private Members Bill C-218 is being debated in parliament. If passed Bill C-218 will prevent euthanasia for mental illness alone.

Doctor admits to killing patient with mental illness by euthanasia.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Bill C-218 is a private members bill that is being debated in Canada. If passed Bill C-218 would prevent euthanasia for mental illness alone in Canada.

• Guide to supporting Bill C-218 (Link).
• No MAiD for Mental Illness (Link).

An article that was published in the Toronto Star on December 13, 2025 titled: Should MAiD be extended to include those with mental illness? is a debate between Dr Ellen Wiebe, Canada's most notorious euthanasia killer and Dr John Maher, a psychiatrist and ethicist who focuses on caring for people with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

Dr Ellen Wiebe

Based on the language of the law, if MAiD for Mental Illness alone begins in March 2027, Dr Maher's patient group would possibly qualify to be poisoned to death in Canada. 

The article begins:

Dr. Ellen Wiebe: I believe that Canadians have a right to control their dying proces and that those rights shouldn't be limited by a diagnosis. If someone has a psychiatric illness, they should have the same right to choose MAiD as someone with a physical illness.

Dr John Maher: I oppose MAiD for mental illness because it robs people of hope. It normalizes suicide.

Wiebe: I have done probably 1,000 MAiD assessments. The law says that two clinicians must assess and fine someone eligible for MAiD.

Maher: I know you've done 1,000 but that's my concern; that the criteria are so easily met. I worry that people will go doctor shopping until they get the answer they want.

Dr. John Maher

Dr Wiebe believes that euthanasia should be available for people with psychiatric conditions. The debate continued:

Wiebe: The guidelines say a person is eligible for MAiD when no reasonable treatments remain. What is "reasonable" is decided by the clinician and the patient together. A condition is considered incurable when it's symptoms cannot be sufficiently or enduringly relieved.

Maher: But patients don't know whether their condition is incurable. They can't. They come to you for treatment, for your professional expertise.

Wiebe expresses that there are no clear euthanasia guidelines in Canada. The debate continues:

Wiebe: The issue is that we don't know exactly what causes each psychiatric condition. We know there are genetic factors. We know there are brain structure factors. We know there are brain chemistry factors. The difference between psychiatric illnesses and neurological conditions such as dementia is unclear.

Maher: Psychiatric illnesses are treatable. Dementia is not. They are very different. Dementia is a neuro-degenerative disease. Most psychiatric disorders can be treated. And you cannot predict who will recover and who won't.

I have seen people recover after 20 years of severe psychotic illness. I have treated patients who were told they would never improve, and they did. There is an accumulation of wisdom. And respectfully, you don't have the psychiatric expertise that I do.

Wiebe tries to convince a psychiatrist that she understands psychiatry. Wiebe outlines the euthanasia death of a person with mental illess:

Wiebe: No I use professional guidance. I provided MAiD for mental illness before legislation excluded it. My patient, E.F., had seven years of treatment by numerous psychiatrists for a severe conversion disorder (a psychiatric condtion where a person experiences unexplained physical symptoms.)

Maher: Yes, a very shocking case that she got approved; a woman whose suffering was real but whose illness was psychiatric, not terminal.

Wiebe: The issue was how much more she had to suffer. She had the right to say, "I am not suffering anymore."

Maher: Agreed. Our laws allow patients to refuse treatment, unlike in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, where doctors must ensure that all reasonable medical and psychiatric treatments have been attempted and proven ineffective before assisted dying can be considered.

Wiebe: For E.F. I reviewed extensive psychiatric documentation. I was satisfied she met the criteria for MAiD. She suffered from 5 physical conditions (including migranes, digestive failure, and limited mobility) that together caused unbearable suffering and tried every treatment that was considered possibly effective.

Maher: You may believe she did, but I know psychiatrists who reviewed the case and were shocked by the treatments that were not attempted.

You have said that you would provide MAiD to people on wait-lists for treatment, by assessing their suffering at that point in time. But the law says patients must have an irremediable condition. That condition is not met if someone does not wait for treatments that may help.

We have a system that doesn't provide adequate care. Only one in three Canadians receive adequate mental-health care in a timely manner, and only one in five children.

Maher points out that the psychiatric euthanasia case that Wiebe carried-out was shocking. The debate continued:

Wiebe: People who choose MAiD want death to be certain. They do not want secrecy. They want to be able to invite their friends. For E.F. we had 10 family members and friends present to support her, tell her how proud they were and give her hugs. That is not suicide.

Maher: I acknowledge that patients with mental illnesses are suffering. These are terrible diseases. But if someone is taking steps to arrange their own death - that is a suicidal plan.

If you are going to offer someone death, you rob them of hope. If you are going to say, "There is nothing more we can do," then it should be true.

Wiebe wants to assure us that E.F.'s death was supported by her family but Maher points out that she was robbed of hope. The debated continued:

Wiebe: MAiD providers must determine whether a patient has the capacity to make a sound medical decision. Patients must be able to understand the consequences of both treatment and refusing treatment.

We are not talking about life or death. We are talking about dying now or dying later.

For mental health cases, I am more likely to need additional corroboration. I would also consult psychiatrist colleagues when I have questions.

It is concerning that Wiebe would suggest that these are not cases of life or death, the debate continued:

Maher: Many people suffering from mental illnesses are pushed to the fringes of society, facing both stigma and poverty. Many people I work with survive on food banks and live in bedbug  and cockroach infested rooms. You walk into these places and think, this cannot be Canada. To then offer them death deeps their vulnerability.

Wiebe: Most of our assisted dying patients are wealthy, well-educated and in charge of their lives.

We do have some vulnerable people, and it factors into our assessment. I look at people in the places you describe, with cockroaches, and ask myself; if the patient were rich, would he want to live longer? I cannot make him rich, and he has a horrible illness causing unbearable suffering, so I let him make his decision.

Maher states that many of his patients, with mental illness, live in poverty, while Wiebe states that most of her killings are wealthy people. The debate continues:

Maher: I understand your goal of relieving suffering. I understand your goal of respecting what patients want. But what confuses me is how you can offer MAiD to people with mental illness who could recover and live long, full lives. How are you able to do that?

Wiebe: I think providing MAiD for people with mental illnesses will be similar to Track 2 cases now (where death is not reasonably foreseeable). When I see someone with chronic fatigue or chronic pain, I need to know they have tried accepted treatments. I will be doing the same when the time comes for mental illness. I have learned from providers in Belgium, where assessments take at least a year, and I hope we will be doing those kind of assessments here.

I have experience with mental illness in my practice and also in my family. My stepson has suffered from schizophrenia for 20 years. He doesn't always make decisions that his parents approve of, but I respect his rights.

Maher completes his part of the debate stating that killing people with mental illness essentially means killing people that may recover and may have years to live a full life while Wiebe responds by saying that MAiD for Mental Illness alone is the same as Track 2 euthanasia, that kills people who are not terminally ill.

Andrew Lawton MP: If Bill C-218 does not pass, people will die.

You may also want to read Tamara Jansen's speech in the House of Commons on Bill C-218 (Link).

Speech by Andrew Lawton MP (Elgin - St. Thomas - London South) in the House of Commons on December 5, 2025 in support of Bill C-218, the bill that is sponsored by Tamara Jansen MP (Cloverdale - Langley City) amending the law to prevent MAiD for Mental Illness alone in Canada.

• Guide to supporting Bill C-218. (Link).
• No MAiD for Mental Illness (Link).
  

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour to rise and speak to Bill C-218.

In less than a week (December 9, 2010), it will be 15 years since I almost lost my life to suicide. I overdosed. I was in the hospital for seven weeks. For much of it, I was on life support and had to be resuscitated multiple times. Over Christmas, my parents did not know if they would have me as their son, moving forward. It was the culmination of a very dark time in my life that spanned many years, a time in which I felt at multiple times, although not as seriously as I did that horribly dark and sad December day in 2010, that I would be better off dead than alive.

 
There are many reasons I am so proud to be standing here in this chamber, but one of them is knowing where I have been and where I came from and the fact that there was a time in my life when I never in a million years would have believed that I could ever have the life I have now: a career that I am proud of, an amazing wife whom I love so dearly, these tremendous colleagues and friends I work with every day, and this trust that has been placed in me by the people I represent. None of that would have been possible had I been successful when I attempted to end my life.

 
I think of my own experience and the experience of many others like me when I reflect on the fact that in just 15 months' time, someone who was in the place I was in 15 years ago will be able to have not only the state's permission but the state's help to end their life by suicide. In March 2027, the criteria for medical assistance in dying are expanding, so someone with only a mental illness, with no physical ailment whatsoever, will be eligible for MAID.

This is a profound expansion and a fundamental inversion of the message that we have spent so much money and so much airtime and so much effort and energy telling Canadians for years, through countless campaigns aimed at ending the stigma surrounding suicide; through more programming, funding and resources to support people with mental illness; and through campaigns telling people that they are better off alive, that they do have a future. They are efforts that we all extend in our own lives to those around us to give messages of hope to those who need it. To put a fine point on this, and to make it personal, because it is personal, if the laws that are coming into force in 15 months had been there 15 years ago, I would probably be dead right now. I say that with full gratitude that I am not.

 
I did not want to extend a cry for help. I actually had access to resources and treatment. I had a support system. I had a family who loved me. I had these privileges that so many others who struggle with mental illness did not have. Even with all of those available to me, I felt like there was no future. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel did not exist. I did not want to get better. It was not that I had not tried; I had not tried enough, clearly. However, I felt like I had done my time. I felt like I had put in enough effort to try to get better and when I did not, I had made my decision that I was going to end it. It was not impulsive; it was quite rational, actually. I decided it weeks out. Believe it or not, as silly as it sounds, I had it on my calendar, and I scheduled the day because I had appointments and meetings before it that I did not want to miss, as though that makes any sense at all, as though it would matter if I missed a meeting, given that I was planning on not sticking around.
 

This is how, when a person is struggling with mental illness, as I was so very seriously, it plays tricks on them. By design, a mental illness is a distortion of the person's ability to see clearly and think clearly about what they are in the midst of. It clouds their judgment. If I had ever gone to a health care worker and said, “I am planning to end my life,” they would have not just a moral but a legal obligation to stop me. They would have legal authority to detain me, because that is how sacrosanct it is that people have a right to recover, that they have a right to live and that medical practitioners must do no harm and protect them from harming themselves. We have a duty to help people.
 

I talk about my own story, and I have heard so many others like it. After my colleague from Cloverdale—Langley City introduced her bill, I launched the “I got better” campaign, in which I shared my testimony and invited Canadians to share their own. I would like to share some of those in the House today.
 

A lawyer from here in Ottawa said that they wondered if they would have used MAID if it had been available when they were in their darkest days, or if they would use it in the dark days yet to come.
 

A man reached out and said he struggles with personal family issues and mental illness. He has very bad days. He has tried attempting suicide before, and he is worried that he will not be stopped in the future if he has more of those dark days and MAID is available to him.
 

On a more positive note, a woman who was in an abusive relationship for 22 years and wanted to die said, “If MAID had been around then, I would not be here now, and I am damn happy it was not.” I will ask members to pardon the unparliamentary language. She continued, saying, “I am happy now. I have had a fantastic career caring for seniors. I have grandbabies and kids I love. I have a wonderful husband now who means the world to me.”

Another woman said she wanted to end her life many times, but looking back, she is so happy she has a life now where she is happier than she ever was before.
 

I will share one more about a woman who described two years of agony, with damage to her liver, hospitalizations, dozens of failed medications and a compilation of diagnoses without any real clarity, but she was given a second chance. She had been labelled as chronically unstable and told she had a poor prognosis, was unable to thrive independently and would likely revolve through the system for the rest of her life. She had attempted suicide several times.
 

There was one doctor who would not give up on her. As she said, “Recovery takes one person, not one pill. It takes one person who believes in you and forces uncomfortable treatment onto you for the sake of the future life that's awaiting you.” That woman went to university, became a social worker to help others, is happily married and, more importantly, is happy.
 

None of these stories could ever be guaranteed if we were to do what the government is doing in 15 months, which is to license giving up on people at their most vulnerable moments, at their darkest and lowest points.
 

Of those who die by suicide, 90% are people who have diagnosable mental illness. Physicians have testified before Parliament and its committees that suicide is often contemplated and planned over a long period of time by people who would very easily, as I am confident I would have, go to a doctor to make a rational, logical case that they have tried all of the treatments and they believe that they are better off dead than alive. There was a consensus among psychiatric experts who have testified and spoken about this elsewhere that there is no clear way to separate suicidal ideation as a symptom from a request for a health care practitioner to help in ending one's life.
 

Dr. John Maher testified before Parliament that 7% of those who attempt suicide die by suicide. That means that 93% of people who, at one or multiple points, want to end their life eventually get over that. The success rate of MAID is 100%. By design, this is a policy that will give up on people.
 

There are very few things in this chamber that we can say are genuinely life-and-death issues. This is one of them. A few weeks ago we saw that, in 2024, MAID accounted for 5.1% of the deaths in Canada. That is a 1,520% increase over 2016 when it became legal. We are seeing a massive expansion to people who, in the vast majority of cases, will get better. About 50% to 60% of people with mental illness will actually recover with no treatment, and that number is even higher for people who do have treatment available.
 

I would not be here today had I been successful. I would not be here today had I not gotten over the darkest, worst feelings of my life, which anyone could encounter. That is something I believe needs to be understood by those who believe this is an abstract question of legal theory and legal rights. These are real people. There are faces to this. If Bill C-218 does not pass, people will die. We have a right and a duty to stand up for those who need it. I will be proudly supporting this bill, and I thank my colleague so much for introducing it.

Teaching about euthanasia for mental disorders and suicide prevention.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Canadian Medical Education Journal has published an editorial by Marcel F D’Eon, Mark S Komrad, Jeremy Bannon called: Teaching suicide prevention: a Canadian medical education conundrum. The article focuses on the medical education curriculum and the tension around suicide prevention and Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) also known as euthanasia, for patients with mental disorders. The editorial asks the question:

What are we educators to do when we find ourselves needing to teach about MAiD for mentally ill patients alongside suicide prevention and what we might consider for MAiD in general?

The editor writes:

At White Coat Warm (the) Art (International Congress on Academic Medicine, 2024), I was struck by the artwork and accompanying text by Nicole Graziano (University of Alberta) published in this issue of the CMEJ. Nicole’s art poignantly depicts what she called “the torment, grief, and freedom of suicide.” The white noose portrayed over a backdrop of light and dark sheds small white flowers filling the space. Her enigmatic set of words on its own caused me to pause. For me, her art juxtaposed the tragedy of suicide, liberation, and the expansion of MAiD, especially for those with psychiatric disorders. How does one help students and residents grasp the need to prevent suicide while offering MAiD to the psychiatrically ill?

The editor then examines the word suicide in relation to MAiD. He quotes Dr John Maher who stated:

Dr. John Maher, editor of the Journal of Ethics in Mental Health, has also pointed this out. How are educators then, supposed to teach students to provide suicide prevention to some patients who exhibit “self-directed behaviour with an intent to die” and simultaneously assist patients who request MAiD thus also demonstrating “self-directed behaviour with an intent to die”? Learners will notice this incongruence and have questions. We need to help them find some resolution.

The editor points out that there are a wide range of views concerning the issue of MAiD and how it may apply to people with psychiatric conditions. The editor then writes:

For a broad discussion of this topic, we could also explain the history of human rights in Canada and around the world where Canada was considered a pioneer and model for other countries. But here too there are controversy and opposition: the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons; and Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights declared that MAID in Canada was not consistent with human rights. We need to acknowledge this wide range of local and international opinions on MAiD, including relevant rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada, and allow our learners to discuss these openly and transparently without repercussions.

The editor then deals with the question of autonomy:

First, that there are no choices that are completely and wholly autonomous. We all live in a context with intertwining relationships and limitations where our decisions are made, at least in part, after consideration of what is possible and desirable within our unique situations. Our teaching about the social determinants of health affirms this perspective. Patients with mental disorders face longer waits for care, have less access to state-of-the-art expertise in certain conditions, and are generally far less economically resourced then people with other illnesses. How could these circumstance not shape the  MAiD decision?

Second, autonomy is an instrumental value. Autonomy helps us lead a fuller, better life, one of our choosing. Self Determination Theory posits that autonomy supports two other major motivators in our lives. Namely, it helps us make a world of our choosing and to enhance our sense of both accomplishment and belonging. Looking back, we reflect and learn from what we ourselves have chosen, good and not so good. But the exercise of autonomy in the MAiD decision does not lead to a fuller life, and we do not get to live with an enhanced sense of accomplishment or belonging. For those who chose MAiD, they cannot ever say of their MAiD choice, the one facilitated by medical professionals, “I’m proud of what I’ve done” and hence their exercise of autonomy was for naught.

The editor completes the article by stating that there is a diversity of thought on these issues. One of the concerns in the Canadian culture is an attitude that "shuts down the debate" and imposes a point of view on the culture.

Marcel D'eon - professor Emeritus, University of Saskatchewan, Canada; Dr Mark Komrad - Faculty of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland, USA; and Jeremy Bannon - Assistant Clinical Professor (Adjunct), Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada. Correspondence to: Marcel D’Eon, email: marcel.deon@usask.ca

Canada's MAiD program has gone "mad"

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Kelsi Sheren, a Canadian military veteran, witnessed the horrific death of a comrade in Afghanistan. Sheren, who lives with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD,) told the Daily Mail in July, 2023 that 'It's disgusting and it's unacceptable,' that authorities would rather euthanize a soldier than foot the bill for their recovery.

The story of Veterans Affairs employees who advocated (MAiD) euthanasia for veterans living with (PTSD) was reported by Global News in August, 2022. The article states:

A Canadian Forces veteran seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and a traumatic brain injury was shocked when he was unexpectedly and casually offered medical assistance in dying by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee, sources tell Global News.

Sources say a VAC service agent brought up medical assistance in dying, or MAID, unprompted in the conversation with the veteran. Global News is not identifying the veteran who was seeking treatment.

The Canadian veteran who was living with PTSD was offered euthanasia around the same time as several other stories were reported of people with disabilities who were being approved for, or dying by, euthanasia based on living in poverty or homelessness and were unable to obtain medical treatment.

Canada expanded the euthanasia law (Bill C-7) in March 2021 by removing the requirement that a person must be terminally ill or that their natural death be reasonably foreseeable. By removing the “terminal illness” requirement within the law without adding further requirements, the law became open to euthanasia for anyone with an "irremediable" medical condition. The new euthanasia law stipulates a 90 day waiting period for people who are not terminally ill and allows  same-day death for people who are terminally ill.

The disability community were concerned during the Bill C-7 debate that removing the “terminal illness” requirement in the law would lead to the deaths of people with disabilities based on social reasons. They were right. People with disabilities are being approved for euthanasia based on their medical condition but are requesting euthanasia based on poverty, homelessness, and other social issues.

Rose Finlay

The Daily Mail reported in July, 2023 on Rose Finlay, a woman with quadriplegia who was self-employed for many years, and had become ill. To enable her to live, Finlay applied for disability benefits and learned that it takes 6 to 8 months to be approved for disability benefits in Ontario. However, Finlay was approved for and could die by euthanasia in 90 days. Finlay didn’t want to die by euthanasia but due to her illness was living in poverty.

Rose Finlay is one of many people with disabilities who applied for euthanasia based on poverty but was approved for euthanasia because her disability is defined as being an “irremediable” medical condition.

Joannie Cowie

Joannie Cowie was interviewed by Global News in October 2022. Cowie, who has multiple disabilities, shares an apartment with her daughter, who is also disabled. Cowie told the media that she wants euthanasia because she is trapped in a cycle of poverty. Even though she has an excellent education, she is not employed and she doesn’t receive enough money from her disability benefit to live.

Meagan Nichols, who operates the Mississauga Food Bank, told MacLean’s magazine in November 2022 that some food bank clients were seeking euthanasia in response to the grind of living in poverty.

Amir Farsoud was considering death by euthanasia to avoid homelessness. City News Toronto reported in October 2022 that Farsoud, who lives with constant back pain, had to find a new apartment because his building had a new owner who was planning to renovate the building. Farsoud, who was dependent on disability benefits, couldn’t find another affordable apartment. Farsoud applied for euthanasia based on his disability but he wanted euthanasia based on his fear of homelessness.

Farsoud remains alive because a GoFundMe fundraiser provided him with a new place to live. But Farsoud is the exception to the rule.

CBC News Manitoba reported in October 2022 that Sathya Dhara Kovac, who was living with ALS, died by euthanasia because she lacked adequate home-care services. In writing her obituary, Kovac stated that she had grown exhausted by her failed efforts to get more help with basic needs at home, and this is what drove her to access a medically assisted death.

A woman known as Madeleine makes the issue clear. Madeleine, who accumulated a $40,000 debt trying to treat myalgic encephalomyelitis and other ailments, told Chatelaine magazine in July 2022 that when her money runs out, a medically assisted death may be her only option. Madeleine is living with disability and poverty as she tries to obtain the medical treatment she needs.

Similar to Rose Finlay, Joannie Cowie and Amir Farsoud, Madeleine doesn’t want to die by euthanasia but she believes it may eventually be her only option. These stories represent only some of the real life stories that people with disabilities who live with poverty, homelessness, or have a difficult time getting medical treatment, are experiencing.

Euthanasia for Mental Illness.

When Canada expanded the euthanasia law in March 2021 (Bill C-7) one of the expansions included approving euthanasia for mental illness alone, and it provided a two-year moratorium to give the government time to prepare for this expansion.

The reality surrounding euthanasia for mental illness is concerning.

John Maher

People with disabilities are requesting, and being approved for, euthanasia based on poverty, homelessness and the inability to receive necessary medical treatment. People with mental health issues are often homeless, living in poverty and having difficulty receiving medical treatment.

Psychiatrist, Dr John Maher, has stated that the euthanasia waiting period for Canadians who are not terminally ill, which is 90 days, is shorter than the waiting period to receive psychiatric care which is often much longer than 90 days.

Sonu Gaind

Psychiatrist, Dr Sonu Gaind, who supports euthanasia but opposes it for people with mental illness, told the Toronto Star in February 2023 that:

it’s basically impossible to know in cases of mental illness whether the condition is truly “irremediable,” i.e. cannot be cured or alleviated.

Dr Gaind's statement is important since the law requires that the person must have an "irremediable" medical condition in order to qualify for euthanasia.

Kathrin Mentler

The story of Kathrin Mentler (37), a Canadian who lives with chronic suicidal thoughts was reported by The Tyee in August 2023. Mentler, who has lived with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts for many years, was offered euthanasia at the Assessment Centre at the Vancouver General Hospital where Mentler was seeking help for suicidal ideation.

Mentler was told by the counsellor that the mental health system was "completely overwhelmed", there were no available beds, and the earliest that she could talk with a psychiatrist was in about five months. Then the counsellor asked Mentler if she had ever considered medically assisted suicide.

In August 2023 a story was published by the Richmond News explaining that had  euthanasia for mental illness existed in the past, Karim Jessa would be dead. Jessa, in his interview, explains that he opposes euthanasia for mental illness because, when he had hit rock bottom, he would have asked for an assisted death if it had been legal, but now he is a completely different person.

Psychiatrist John Maher stated in an interview with W5 in November 2022:

"There are cycles of illness. Some of it's up and down. It might be years. And then there is a burst of illness and suffering that we then take care of,” Maher said.

He said that MAiD for mental illness, is too close to suicide for his comfort.

“You're assisting someone in the completion of their suicide. The doctor is the sanitised gun,".

One of Maher's key concerns is how anyone can determine if someone with a mental illness is incurable, as is required by the legislation.

"I'm not at all disagreeing that there are people who have an irremediable illness. What I defy you or any other person in the universe to prove to me is that it's this person in front of you.”

Canada's euthanasia law has led to the abandonment of people with disabilities who are living with poverty, homelessness, have difficulty obtaining necessary medical treatment, and are living under unacceptable social conditions. 

Canada's euthanasia law is scheduled to expand to include euthanasia for psychological conditions on March 17, 2024. The result of this decision will be more of the same, except for the people with psychiatric conditions who will be encouraged to die.

Canada's euthanasia law has abandoned people living with difficult conditions to death.

Canada's euthanasia (MAiD) program has gone "mad".

More articles on this topic:

• Has Canada's euthanasia law gone too far? (Link)
• Psychiatrists: Do we offer hope or do we offer death (Link).
• The majority of Canadian oppose euthanasia for mental health (Link).
• Canada's euthanasia law is the most permissive in the world (Link).
• Canada to delay implementing euthanasia for mental illness (Link).
• Toronto Star: Canada is going too far with euthanasia (Link).
• Globe and Mail Editorial: No to euthanasia for mental disorders (Link).
• Euthanasia panel member quit: Proposals don't adequately protect Canadians with mental illness (Link).
• Offering euthanasia to a suicidal person leads to premature deaths (Link).
• Euthanizing the mentally ill without providing proper supports is reprehensible (Link).
• Euthanasia for mental illness. Killing people with an uncertain prognosis (Link).
• Profound social change with euthanasia for mental illness (Link).