Medical Assistance In Dying - The Canadian MAID Program

[rgray222]

When euthanasia became legal in some countries, I thought it was wrong on every level, but over time, I began to see the wisdom in assisted suicide. But now that those thoughts have matured, I am no longer convinced it is a good thing. Dr Aron Kheriaty best describes the problem.

Dr. Aaron Kheriaty, a psychiatrist and director at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, cautions that once society accepts the premise that doctors can kill patients, it becomes extremely difficult to impose meaningful limits on such practices, highlighting the "slippery slope" argument as increasingly relevant in Canada's expanding Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program. He notes that the logic of the euthanasia movement—based on autonomy or suffering—can be invoked for an ever-widening range of conditions, including mental illness and non-terminal disabilities, making it hard to draw ethical boundaries after the initial threshold is crossed.

Canada Sets New World Record For Euthanasia - MAID

This is information that I pulled from AI. I have checked the dates, numbers and basic facts with a second source, and it all appears to hold up.

Canada's euthanasia program, officially known as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), was legalized in June 2016 for individuals whose death was reasonably foreseeable. Initially, eligibility required a serious and incurable physical illness causing intolerable suffering. However, the law was significantly expanded in March 2021 through Bill C-7, which removed the requirement for death to be reasonably foreseeable and extended access to those with a "grievous and irremediable" condition, including people with disabilities alone.

Under current law, two types of MAiD are permitted: a physician or nurse practitioner may directly administer a lethal substance, or they may prescribe it for self-administration. To qualify, applicants must be at least 18 years old, eligible for government-funded health services, have decision-making capacity, and provide informed consent after being informed of alternatives such as palliative care. They must also experience unbearable physical or mental suffering from an illness, disease, disability, or state of decline that cannot be relieved under conditions they find acceptable.



The program has seen rapid growth since its inception. In 2017, 2,838 people died via MAiD; by 2024, that number had risen to 16,499, accounting for one in twenty deaths in Canada. This expansion has made Canada one of the most permissive jurisdictions globally regarding assisted dying, comparable only to the Netherlands and Belgium. By 2022, MAiD had become the fourth leading cause of death in the country, having grown thirteenfold since 2016.

A controversial aspect of the program is the planned inclusion of individuals whose sole underlying condition is mental illness. Originally scheduled for March 2023, this expansion has been delayed and is now set for 2027 due to concerns about safeguards and ethical implications. The delay is currently being challenged in court, and the issue remains highly contentious, drawing criticism from UN human rights experts and disability rights groups who warn of potential coercion and devaluation of vulnerable lives.

Critics argue that in the context of austerity, housing crises, and rising inequality, some individuals may feel pressured to choose MAiD due to lack of adequate social or medical support rather than a genuine desire to die. As of early 2025, income inequality in Canada reached a record high, with the top 20% holding nearly two-thirds of the wealth, while 45% of Canadians reported difficulty meeting daily expenses.

While federal law does not compel healthcare providers to participate in MAiD, some provinces require objecting practitioners to make an effective referral to another provider. Safeguards include assessments by two independent medical professionals, a written and witnessed request, and the option to withdraw consent at any time. For those whose death is reasonably foreseeable, a waiver of final consent—known as Audrey’s Amendment—allows MAiD to proceed even if the person loses capacity before the procedure.

Additional articles and some food for thought:

• Canada's Euthanasia Machine Overloaded as Demands for Death Skyrockets
• Canada Moves Forward To Euthanize 12 Year Old Children
• Canada is Euthanizing its Poor and Disabled
• The Profitable Business of Euthanasia Gives Food For Thought - Canada
• Canada's Dark Path: Hundreds of Unreported Abuses of Euthanasia Laws
• Canada is turning the euthanasia program into a source of donor organs: Euthanasia has become a business in Canada
• Health Care Workers Grappling With Patients Request To Die
• Is Death in Canada an Escape from Suffering
• I Could Live 30 Years But Plan To Die
• Canada Has Arguably the Most Permissive System of Euthanasia

[Brigantia]

I remember reading of a young woman in Canada with depression who was offered MAID in order to end her suffering.

Our House of Commons in the UK has passed a bill to legalise euthanasia, introduced by some mad-looking Labour woman MP, but that is being resisted in the House of Lords. It needs to be passed in the Lords in order to become law; hopefully they will stop this happening as I believe it is diabolically wrong on all levels and glaringly open to abuse. Doctors have said how difficult it is to determine a patient's future lifespan; patients that they believed would only have a few months to live have recovered and gone on living for years.

[rgray222]

I believe that Canada's program has begun to go off the rails when it began to include people who are not terminally ill, especially those with a mental illness. (Oddly, Canada has begun to kill itself.) The law, as amended in 2021, allows for individuals with grievous and irremediable medical conditions, even if death is not reasonably foreseeable, to take advantage of assisted suicide. There have been several high-profile cases, such as the 51-year-old woman with chemical sensitivities who chose MAID after failing to find affordable housing, that have fueled concerns that MAID is being used as a solution to social and economic challenges rather than medical ones. Human nature dictates that the easiest path is usually (but not always) chosen, so turning death into an alternative to addressing society's failures is simply wrong. Killing people is a lot easier than funding and researching mental illness. Killing people is a lot cheaper than giving people access to healthcare, housing or food.

I believe Canada is now on the slippery slope, and it will be almost impossible to slow down the expansion of this assisted death program. The MAID program devalues all life but especially that of physically and mentally ill people.

[Wilbur2]

On a slightly perverse and morbid note: If they made medically-assisted dying totally legal, in Canada and elsewhere, without there being ANY qualifying prerequisites, apart from being of the age of majority and capable of consenting, I bet there would be hundreds of thousands taking the option each year in most countries. In fact (and even more morbidly - sorry) it would form a pretty good metric of the standard of living in a country!

[petra]

Somewhat mentally ill person here!

I remember wanting to be euthanized. I had lost ALL my memories. I was left with one memory of playing chess with my mom and thats it. I tried to convince the mental institution to kill me and I argued why is this acceptable for animals but not for people??

My memories come back though thankfully and I am glad they did not kill me I think there will be a time though, when I get older, that I will be ready to die. And I hope when that time comes it will be relatively painless

[rgray222]

The Canadian government has turned the country into a killing field. Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program has become a leading cause of death, with 16,499 people dying through MAID in 2024 alone, representing approximately 5.1% (1 in 20) of all Canadian deaths. This figure surpasses the number of U.S. gun homicide deaths in the same year (15,364), despite the U.S. population being roughly eight times larger. To say this is shocking is an understatement.

Son sounds alarm after father's medically assisted death in Canada: Way past appropriate'


Eric Edmeades with his father. (Eric Edmeades)

A Canadian man's decision to end his life through the country's medically assisted dying program left his son stunned by how quickly the process unfolded, and now he's warning that the system has gone "way past appropriate."

Eric Edmeades, founder of Speaker Nation, a training platform for speakers that teaches presentation skills and more, told Fox News Digital this week that his father Baz, who was in his late 70s and struggling with a combination of medical problems, began discussing Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program after his health deteriorated in late 2023.

But what Edmeades expected to be a months-long process suddenly accelerated, leaving the family with little time to prepare.

Edmeades said the family started taking the issue seriously in January, but at that stage, projections were that it would take at least six months. He and his wife traveled to Vancouver at the beginning of 2024 to visit his father. At that stage, it was still a speculative thing that was months away.

"And then all of a sudden it was like, ‘No, it's next week,’" Edmeades recalled.

His father died via MAiD on Feb. 27, 2024.

He had been experiencing a sharp decline in his physical health and independence, particularly during the COVID-era lockdowns, according to his son.

"He had been incredibly healthy most of his life," Edmeades said, describing a combination of symptoms that included epilepsy and neurological pain.


Eric Edmeades with his father and family in Vancouver. (Eric Edmeades)

Edmeades also questioned whether interactions between his father's medications could have contributed to his deteriorating condition.

"When the lockdowns came along, and he could no longer go out and walk all the time, it really had a marked decrease in his physical ability and his sense of freedom and all that kind of stuff," he said.

"And then there just came this point where life started sounding pointless to him," Edmeades said.

Full Story: https://www.foxnews.com/media/son-so...st-appropriate

[AutumnW]

Petra, I am so sorry you felt that awful. What a sad story! Thanks for revealing that. Hopefully it will dispell some of the propaganda we have been privy to.

[AutumnW]

Posted by rgray222 (here)
The Canadian government has turned the country into a killing field. Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program has become a leading cause of death, with 16,499 people dying through MAID in 2024 alone, representing approximately 5.1% (1 in 20) of all Canadian deaths. This figure surpasses the number of U.S. gun homicide deaths in the same year (15,364), despite the U.S. population being roughly eight times larger. To say this is shocking is an understatement.

Son sounds alarm after father's medically assisted death in Canada: Way past appropriate'


Eric Edmeades with his father. (Eric Edmeades)

A Canadian man's decision to end his life through the country's medically assisted dying program left his son stunned by how quickly the process unfolded, and now he's warning that the system has gone "way past appropriate."

Eric Edmeades, founder of Speaker Nation, a training platform for speakers that teaches presentation skills and more, told Fox News Digital this week that his father Baz, who was in his late 70s and struggling with a combination of medical problems, began discussing Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program after his health deteriorated in late 2023.

But what Edmeades expected to be a months-long process suddenly accelerated, leaving the family with little time to prepare.

Edmeades said the family started taking the issue seriously in January, but at that stage, projections were that it would take at least six months. He and his wife traveled to Vancouver at the beginning of 2024 to visit his father. At that stage, it was still a speculative thing that was months away.

"And then all of a sudden it was like, ‘No, it's next week,’" Edmeades recalled.

His father died via MAiD on Feb. 27, 2024.

He had been experiencing a sharp decline in his physical health and independence, particularly during the COVID-era lockdowns, according to his son.

"He had been incredibly healthy most of his life," Edmeades said, describing a combination of symptoms that included epilepsy and neurological pain.


Eric Edmeades with his father and family in Vancouver. (Eric Edmeades)

Edmeades also questioned whether interactions between his father's medications could have contributed to his deteriorating condition.

"When the lockdowns came along, and he could no longer go out and walk all the time, it really had a marked decrease in his physical ability and his sense of freedom and all that kind of stuff," he said.

"And then there just came this point where life started sounding pointless to him," Edmeades said.

Full Story: https://www.foxnews.com/media/son-so...st-appropriate

The people "murdered" by MAID were terminally ill elderly patients who chose it themselves. Most Canadians can and do choose it so the large numbers are reflecting typical mortality rates for a country that has a disproportionate number of very old people. Please, enough of these stories twisted by exaggeration.

[Johan (Keyholder)]

Does anyone remember Sol in the "Soylent Green" movie (1973)? That looked a lot like the aforementioned MAID-program.

[rgray222]

Posted by AutumnW (here)

The people "murdered" by MAID were terminally ill elderly patients who chose it themselves. Most Canadians can and do choose it, so the large numbers reflect typical mortality rates for a country that has a disproportionate number of very old people. Please, enough of these stories twisted by exaggeration.

Autumn, I respect your love for and pride in Canada, and I understand that you may see things quite differently. I also know it is extremely difficult to watch a country you love being publicly criticized but the MAID program has gone too far by just about every metric. The MAID system lacks safeguards, and it has become nothing more than a medicine, a death therapy for many people. The stories abound in the media; it does not really take much effort to ferret them out. MAID is being treated as a response to suffering that might instead call for better care and support, especially regarding mental health, and many lives may be ended under questionable interpretations of the rules.

[AutumnW]

Posted by rgray222 (here)

Posted by AutumnW (here)

The people "murdered" by MAID were terminally ill elderly patients who chose it themselves. Most Canadians can and do choose it, so the large numbers reflect typical mortality rates for a country that has a disproportionate number of very old people. Please, enough of these stories twisted by exaggeration.

Autumn, I respect your love for and pride in Canada, and I understand that you may see things quite differently. I also know it is extremely difficult to watch a country you love being publicly criticized but the MAID program has gone too far by just about every metric. The MAID system lacks safeguards, and it has become nothing more than a medicine, a death therapy for many people. The stories abound in the media; it does not really take much effort to ferret them out. MAID is being treated as a response to suffering that might instead call for better care and support, especially regarding mental health, and many lives may be ended under questionable interpretations of the rules.

I respect your love for Fox "news" but can't take your claims based on what you see on this channel seriously.

"The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates broadcast airwaves (like local ABC, NBC, or CBS stations), but cable and satellite networks like Fox News are not subject to the same over-the-air news accuracy regulations."

[AutumnW]

"Canada’s MAID law includes different procedural safeguards for medical practitioners to follow, based on whether a person’s natural death is reasonably foreseeable or not. For people whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable, this approach ensures sufficient time and expertise are spent assessing MAID requests.

These safeguards seek to address the diverse sources of suffering and vulnerability that could potentially lead a person who is not nearing death to ask for MAID."

https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/ad-am/bk-di.html#s1

If a very sick elder person wanted to be bumped off before all of these criteria were satisfied and they found some joker of a doctor, who didn't know or care about the law, to do it, that's really sad and bleak. It is NOT Federal policy.

[rgray222]

Healthcare is a huge financial and systemic burden for Canada. Total health spending reached $400 billion in 2025. This makes Canada one of the highest-spending nations for healthcare, yet the system consistently underperforms compared to other countries offering similar services. The official purpose of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program is to "provide a compassionate end-of-life option for individuals experiencing grievous and irremediable medical conditions and enduring, intolerable suffering who have the capacity to make informed decisions." Many critics including many prominent healthcare professionals, claim that the MAID program has become a cost-cutting mechanism for a single-payer healthcare system.

Thank Goodness Canada has drastically slowed down the expansion of the MAID program and they have indefinitely suspended plans to individuals whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness.

[truthseek]

Dear friends, I should add to the conversation a real life scenario: we had a really dear friend, born in 1952, who after being jabbed for covid, rapidly developed stage 4 cancer within the year. He chose MAID to end his suffering (2023).

Namaste