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MAiD

Official data shows euthanasia deaths in Canada rose significantly in 2023

Published

10 months ago

5 minute read

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) increased 42% in 2023 in Quebec alone.

Deaths of Canadians by state-approved euthanasia have risen sharply in most provinces according to recent data, with approximately 16,000 people dying in 2023 alone, a significant increase from 2022 and an “out of control” rate, the nation’s leading anti-euthanasia advocacy group warned.

Official MAiD data from Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta shows the shocking level of deaths. In 2022, there were 13,241 Canadians who died by MAiD.

According to data from the Quebec Commission on End-of-Life Care’s eighth annual report, 5,211 people died by MAiD from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023, which is a large increase from 3,663 in the previous reporting period.

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC), wrote in a recent blog that he predicts that 60,000 Canadians have died by MAiD since the deadly practice was legalized in 2016, with the rate increasing every year.

“Euthanasia is out of control in Canada,” Schadenberg said.

The EPC noted that deaths in Quebec from MAiD increased 42% in 2023, accounting for 6.8% of all deaths in the province. The report also shows that from April 1 to June 30, 2023, the number of MAiD deaths in the province went up 24%, which the EPC noted is “a slower pace of growth, but substantial considering the massive number of euthanasia deaths.”

The EPC also reflected that “Shockingly, 15% of those who died by euthanasia in Quebec were not terminally ill.”

MAiD data from Ontario released late last year shows there were 4,641 deaths in 2023, an 18% increase from 3,924 in 2022.

Data from Alberta shows that since June 2016 there have been 3,914 reported deaths by MAiD. However, 977 were in 2023, which is an 18% increase from 836 in 2022, or 594 in 2021.

Assisted suicide, the EPC says, is much less common and “is done by a doctor or nurse prescribing a person, usually upon request, a lethal poison cocktail that the person would take themselves.”

Last week, notably after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delayed its planned expansion of euthanasia to those suffering solely from mental illness to 2027.

Canadian Health Minister Mark Holland and Justice Minister Arif Virani announced the delay but said the government is still fully committed to expanding MAiD.

The delay was welcomed by the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, but Schadenberg told LifeSiteNews that euthanasia “should be scrapped altogether.”

“We will be active in the next election reminding voters of the Members of Parliament who voted against Bill C-314 last fall, a bill that would have scrapped euthanasia for mental illness,” Schadenberg said.

Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) said that Canadians need “compassionate care, not killing,” and has urged Trudeau’s federal government to permanently scrap, not just delay, its planned expansion of euthanasia to those suffering from mental illness.

The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) under leader Pierre Poilievre is supportive of the pause but wants the expansion of MAiD to be dropped altogether.

The CPC has opposed the expansion of MAiD, but recent attempts to stop the grim procedure, such as through Bill C-314, have failed.

The current delay is the second time the expansion has been put on hold.

Originally set to go into effect in March 2023, pressure from the same groups led the Liberals under Trudeau to delay Bill C-39.

The original delay in expanding MAiD until 2024 also came after numerous public scandals, including the surfacing of reports that Canadian veterans were being offered the fatal procedure by workers at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).

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MAiD

Nearly half of non-terminally ill Canadians who choose euthanasia say they are lonely

Published on December 19, 2024

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Of the 662 people who were not in danger of death but succumbed to medical assistance in dying last year, 47.1 percent cited as reasons for wanting to die ‘isolation or loneliness.’

Official government data shows that about half of Canadians who are not terminally ill yet wanted to end their lives via state-sanctioned assisted suicide did so last year because they said they were lonely.

According to data published by Health Canada on December 11 in its fifth annual report on medical assistance in dying (MAID), 15,342 people were approved for and died by euthanasia in 2023.

A total of 14,721 of these deaths were in cases where illness or disability were likely down the road or considered “reasonably foreseeable.” These are called Track 1 MAiD deaths.

However, 662 deaths were people who were not dying. Of these Track 2 deaths, 47.1 percent cited as reasons for wanting to die “isolation or loneliness.” By comparison, about 21.1 percent of Track 1 deaths reported the same feelings for wanting to die by doctor-led suicide.

The report stated that “social isolation and loneliness are shown to have a serious impact on physical and mental health, quality of life, and longevity.”

Of the Track 2 deaths, 35.7 percent lived alone, compared with 30.2 percent of Track 1 deaths. Of Track 1 deaths, the average age was 77.7 years. The average age of Track 2 deaths was 75.

Of note is that this year’s Health Canada report on MAiD is the first to include so-called “verbal” requests from individuals as official. Previously, those who wanted to die via assisted suicide had to submit a form to Health Canada in order to be officially recorded as a request to die by suicide.

Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose Liberal government legalized MAiD in 2016, the deadly program has continued to relax its rules on who is eligible for death.

As reported by LifeSiteNews, 1 in 20 Canadian deaths in 2023 came from assisted suicide.

Last week, LifeSiteNews reported how a senior Canadian couple said that a hospice care center presented euthanasia to one of them as an option because they could not afford increased care costs on their fixed income.

Canadian pro-life leaders have criticized the Trudeau government’s continued push for expanding MAiD.

Indeed, most Canadians fear the nation’s euthanasia regime unfairly targets those who are financially and socially vulnerable while still supporting the immoral practice in general.

In 2021, the program expanded from killing only terminally ill patients to allowing the chronically ill to qualify. Since then, the government has sought to include those suffering solely from mental illness.

The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection under the nation’s MAiD program since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.

Canada had approximately 15,280 euthanasia deaths in 2023.

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MAiD

Saskatchewan seniors say they were offered euthanasia when faced with increased hospice costs

Published on December 15, 2024

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Most Canadians fear the nation’s euthanasia regime unfairly targets those who are financially and socially vulnerable

A senior aged Canadian couple has said that a hospice care center presented euthanasia to one of them as an option as they were facing increased care costs they could not afford on their fixed income.

71-year-old Fred Sandeski from Saskatchewan, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) along with a host of other ailments such as diabetes and epilepsy, and his wife Teresa, who also has failing health, say death via Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying euthanasia program was suggested to them when they realized they would not be able to cover the costs associated with increased care at a hospice center.

According to the Epoch Times, when Fred started with palliative care, “they were just listing us the availability of what options they had for us,” and MAiD was presented as “one option.”

Thankfully, Sandeski refused MAiD, saying, “I really, really believe that the Lord has put me on this earth for a reason, and he’s not going to let me go until I’m done.” 

Sandeski’s plight was brought to the attention of the provincial government of Saskatchewan by the opposition New Democratic Party’s shadow minister for seniors, Keith Jorgenson, who encouraged Saskatchewan Health Minister Jeremy Cockrill to help the couple.

In response, Cockrill said that he had reached out to the Sandeskis and would “find a solution that’s going to work for Fred and Theresa this week.” 

He added that when it comes to the care home having offered them MAiD as a solution to their plight, he would “hope that any health care professional in this province, having those discussions with a patient has a strong understanding of the patient’s health and familial context.” 

Instances of people being offered MAiD as a solution to their health issues have become commonplace in Canada, as reported by LifeSiteNews.  

Indeed, most Canadians fear the nation’s euthanasia regime unfairly targets those who are financially and socially vulnerable while still supporting the immoral practice in general.   

Recently, the United Conservative government of Alberta said it would push back against the Canadian federal government’s continued desire to expand euthanasia in the nation, announcing it will be launching a review of the legislation and policies surrounding the grim practice, which will include a period of public engagement.  

Under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, whose government legalized MAiD in 2016, the deadly program has continued to relax who is eligible for death.

In 2021, the program expanded from killing only terminally ill patients to allowing the chronically ill to qualify, as since then the government has sought to include those suffering solely from mental illness.

The number of Canadians killed by lethal injection under the nation’s MAiD program since 2016 stands at close to 65,000, with an estimated 16,000 deaths in 2023 alone. Many fear that because the official statistics are manipulated the number may be even higher.   

Canada had approximately 15,280 euthanasia deaths in 2023. 

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