MAiD Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

In 1936, King George V lay on his deathbed. As his final hours drew near, the royal physician administered two injections of morphine and cocaine to hasten his passing, ensuring that his death would be announced in the morning papers, and not the ‘less appropriate evening journals’.

The King’s death was quick, painless, and utterly illegal; British law continues to view assisting suicide in almost any form as a criminal act. With the news this week that the House of Commons is launching an inquiry into assisted dying, this may soon change. For now, what was fit for the King remains, in the eye of the law, unfit for the common man. And thank God for that. Because before any change is made, lawmakers should seriously consider the catastrophe unfolding in Canada.

“Give me liberty or give me death!” So said American revolutionary Patrick Henry back in 1775. It was a poetic way of expressing his desire for American independence.

Patrick Henry wanted freedom so badly that he was willing to die for his cause. While our Canadian Confederation of 1867 was a quieter affair then the American Revolution, there is little doubt that our founding fathers also wanted Canada to be a free country.

Unfortunately, the legalization of MAID (medical aid in dying) has led to a much different rallying cry in modern-day Canada. Our new mantra appears to be “Give me medically assisted death when I become a burden on society!” Not only does it lack Patrick Henry’s poetic cadence, but it also conveys a very different message.

More people, per capita, are dying with medical assistance (MAID) in Quebec than anywhere else in the world, according to Quebec’s commission on end-of-life care.

Since the start of the pandemic, requests for the procedure have more than doubled — from 1,774 in 2019-2020 to 3,663 in 2021-22.

The increase means the percentage of people who chose MAID in Quebec is greater than in Belgium and the Netherlands, where it has been legal for decades. It has been legal in Quebec since 2015.

How a country’s totalitarian odyssey evolved into a dystopian hellscape.

The Great White North is looking more like a dystopian hellscape these days. Endless stories are streaming out of Canada where disabled, sick, or mentally ill Canucks are being encouraged to take their own life in lieu of medical care.

The most recent example surrounds Christine Gauthier, a 52-year-old veteran and wheelchair bound woman trying to get a wheelchair lift installed in her home to aid with her mobility.

Relaxing euthanasia laws in Canada so children can be offered assisted dying would tell sick young people their lives are ‘not worth living’, a campaigner has warned.

Lawmakers in Canada are currently considering whether medical assistance in dying (MAID) should be open to ‘mature minors’ who meet certain criteria.

Mike Schouten, an activist whose son Markus died of cancer earlier this year, said the highly-controversial policy would send the message to patients like his son that caregivers are ‘giving up’ on them.

The terms permissive or progressive don’t do justice to the expansion of assisted suicide in Canada that’s happened practically overnight. Outrageous and unacceptable are a bitter fit.

In recent months, Canadians have been shocked by news stories about people who have considered, been offered, or been approved for what we call “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) for reasons that take us way beyond where we thought we were headed.

OTTAWA — Conservatives are calling on the federal government to delay the expansion of medical assistance in dying to people suffering from mental illnesses next March.

In a statement Friday, MPs Michael Cooper, Stephen Ellis and Dominique Vien sided with the position taken by the Association of Chairs of Psychiatry in Canada, which includes heads of psychiatry departments of Canada’s 17 medical schools, publicly on Thursday.

If you have a mental health crisis in this country, count yourself as extremely lucky if you get help quickly. Canadians seeking treatment for mental illness or distress can be forced to wait weeks, months or years depending on their needs, location and financial status.

After Balenciaga, more publicity campaigns are taking a disturbing turn

Fashion has been smashing taboos since Coco Chanel first marketed trousers to women after World War I. But today there are very few norms left to assault in pursuit of publicity-generating controversy. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised to find the rag trade venturing into truly taboo territory: paedophilia and now suicide — albeit with a fig-leaf of liberal proceduralism, in its guise as medically-assisted voluntary euthanasia.

Societies can prevent suicide by substituting homicide. In Canada, doctors in the spring of ‘23 will be authorized to encourage patients who are depressed, mentally ill, or just difficult or expensive to treat to commit suicide. To be fair, two doctors must sign off on the final decision, and there will be a 90-day waiting period before the execution can be carried out. If doctors are squeamish about it, the law is going to permit nurse practitioners to do the deed (probably with a hefty bonus for each ‘patient’ so treated).

This new policy is materially different from the assisted suicide that is already legal in Canada. That sees doctors supplying the drugs for ending life and leaves it to the individuals to choose the time and place to self-administer.