MAiD

A Quebec report on end-of-life care reveals that the province is in a class of its own when it comes to euthanasia, though the rest of Canada is not far behind.

Concerns have been raised about how Health Canada implemented its two-month national consultation on advanced requests for euthanasia that concluded Feb. 14.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has submitted a petition to B.C. Health Minister Josie Osborne and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C., urging an investigation into the euthanasia practices of Dr. Ellen Wiebe, a prominent and controversial Vancouver provider of medical assistance in dying (MAiD).

Health Canada’s new annual report about medical assistance in dying (MAiD) revealed that euthanasia now accounts for nearly five per cent — 15,343 people — of the nation’s total fatalities (326,571) in 2023.

B.C. pro-life leaders are crying foul over what they charge is a rigged Health Canada consultation on medical assistance in dying (MAiD), saying it’s aimed at suppressing opposition to the legalization of advance requests as Quebec is doing.

A new survey co-commissioned by the Angus Reid Institute and Cardus found 62 per cent of Canadians are concerned that socially and financially vulnerable citizens will choose euthanasia instead of seeking out adequate and quality health care.

Regulators of Ontario’s euthanasia program have identified 428 cases of non-compliance by assisted suicide providers since 2016, but none of those violations were reported to the public or law enforcement.

Quebec began accepting advanced requests for assisted suicide on Oct. 30, and the federal government has pledged not to stand in the Francophone province’s way.

On Oct. 30, the Province of Quebec implemented its highly controversial euthanasia directives that allow certain patients to make advance requests for medical assistance in dying (MAiD), beating any national changes to the current law. Now, patients can request MAiD well before the natural end of life under the guise that the appeal is required before their condition renders them incapable of giving consent.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) and collaborating stakeholders have crystalized a vision of palliative care that champions life rather than medically assisted death.