Fraser Health Care, one of the largest healthcare providers in the Canadian province of British Columbia, has received backlash after sending a slideshow promoting assisted suicide to a group of healthy patients. The slideshow was included as part of the information given to patients about their pension packages and featured a slide titled “Expressions of wanting to die” claiming that assisted suicide can provide a sense of control.
The controversial slideshow, sent in June, also provided details about the Canadian track system for assisted suicide, which offers two pathways depending on whether death is deemed “reasonably foreseeable” or not. The Canadian government legalized assisted suicide, known as Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), in 2016. In March 2021, the law was amended to allow MAID in cases where it is not medically necessary or when death is not reasonably foreseeable. Furthermore, as of March 2024, individuals whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness will be eligible for MAID.
The Fraser Health Care slideshow states that there is “no waiting period” for eligible individuals whose death is reasonably foreseeable. Terminally ill patients can be offered a medically assisted death within a day of making a request and being assessed by two independent clinicians.
These developments to expand access to euthanasia in Canada come amidst troubling stories, such as a Canadian army veteran being offered euthanasia instead of the requested installation of a stairlift in her home. The retired corporal was shocked when a veterans affairs case worker suggested medical assistance in dying (MAID) as an alternative solution to her request.
According to a report by Health Canada, 10,064 Canadians ended their lives through assisted suicide or euthanasia in 2021, accounting for 3.3% of all deaths in the country. This represents a 32.4% increase from 2020 figures. Since the legalization of assisted suicide in 2016, a total of 31,664 people in Canada have chosen medical assistance in dying.
The promotion and expansion of assisted suicide within Canada are concerning, as it normalizes and trivializes a practice with far-reaching consequences. The slideshow sent to healthy patients shows again how leftist influence in medical practice results not in more lives saved, but more lives taken in the pursuit of financial gain.