Photo attribution: StockSnap Pixabay Modified by Peter Oliver

By Peter Oliver,   Executive Director of Catholic Health Association of Saskatchewan

Even after having years of experience working with individuals who have committed the most egregious crimes in Canada, I was shocked!

I accidentally opened a decade-old PBS video titled “The right to die in Belgium: An inside look at the world’s most liberal euthanasia law”.  It begins with a physician injecting “Eva,” a 34-year-old chronically depressed woman, with a lethal poison that ends her life.  The pragmatic, almost detached, commentary from the medical professionals and narrator in this video highlights the tendency to normalize assisted suicide even in cases where mental suffering is the primary driver.

What was once considered a distant and extreme scenario is now a very real threat to the well-being of people with mental health concerns in Canada. The expansion of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) to include mental disorders as a sole qualifying condition is no longer theoretical; it is a legislated reality, albeit with a delayed implementation until March 17, 2027. And like the language in the PBS video, Canadian discourse on this issue is hauntingly similar.  Consider these introductory thoughts about the expansion of assisted suicide on the Government of Canada’s website:

“Medical assistance in dying (MAID) is a complex and deeply personal issue.  The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring our laws reflect Canadians’ needs, protect those who may be vulnerable, and support autonomy and freedom of choice.

Important: On February 29, 2024, legislation to extend the temporary exclusion of eligibility to receive MAID in circumstances where a person’s sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness received royal assent and immediately came into effect. The eligibility date for persons suffering solely from a mental illness is now March 17, 2027.” (Government of Canada Website: “Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) law”)

For heaven’s sakes, how about some emotion?  Might the audience of your “informative web page about MAiD” be one of our sons?  Might it suggest that the Government of Canada wants to assure our sons that, if they experience a serious mental health issue, they need not worry about killing themselves; Canada will supply them with a medical professional who will give them a lethal injection?

And how are we to make sense of the sentence at the beginning of the web page: “This webpage deals with topics that may cause distress (underline, my emphasis).”

May cause distress! Seriously?

May?  Are you kidding?

You better damn well not be talking about our sons!!!

May cause distress!  You’re barmy!

Government of Canada website person are you aware that your own website says, “Suicide is the SECOND leading cause of death among young adults (15-34). (Suicide in Canada: Key Statistics)”?  By-the-way, the bold caps is your emphasis!

Language that sanitizes and normalizes assisted suicide such as, “Medical assistance in dying (MAID) is a complex and deeply personal issue” fogs our moral compass.  We start referring to “end-of-life choices”; when what we are really talking about is doctors and nurses killing people!

Seeking to redress this completely insane legislation, Canadian Member of Parliament (MP) Tamara Jansen from Cloverdale-Langley City in British Columbia has introduced a private member’s bill, Bill C-218. This piece of legislation aims to amend the Criminal Code to explicitly state that a mental disorder is not a “grievous and irremediable medical condition” for which a person could receive medical assistance in dying.

It is critical that Canadians WAKE UP!

We are not considering the best way to water our Petunias or manage our junk mail.  We are talking about ripping open the metaphysical membrane that sustains our most cherished values, values that protect people we love.

Directly and emotionally to the point: JENSEN’S BILL NEEDS OUR SUPPORT!!!

Here are some options: Contact Nicole Scheidl from Canadian Physicians for Life, ([email protected]) or Alex Schadenberg from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, ([email protected]) or Amanda Achtman from Dying to Meet You ([email protected] ) and find out how you can make a difference.