Assisted suicide killed 15,343 Canadians last year, says annual report
In Canada, Medical Assistance in Dying is supposed to be accessible only to those with a physical ailment, despite frequent attempts to legalize it for mentally ill patients.
Canadians choosing to end their lives through Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) have broken records in consecutive years, shows new federal data.
The Department of Health, in its fifth annual report on MAID, found that 15,343 people accessed assisted suicide last year, a 15.8% increase from 2022.
In Canada, MAID can only be accessed by people with a physical ailment, though there have been frequent attempts to legalize it for mentally ill patients.
According to the Department of Health, 19,660 people asked for MAID in 2023, of which 2,906 died before their requests could be fulfilled. Another 915 applicants were deemed ineligible and 496 withdrew their requests, reported the Globe and Mail.
Of the MAID recipients, natural death was “reasonably foreseeable” in 96% of cases, with a median age of 78. Officials learned cancer was the leading medical condition.
On February 2, 2022, Health Minister Mark Holland introduced Bill C-39, delaying the expansion of MAID to Canadians whose sole underlying condition is a mental disorder. Only persons with physical ailments can access the procedure.
The federal government extended the temporary exclusion period until March 17, 2024, following a similar exclusion the previous year. It remains before the House of Commons as of writing.
In 2022, assisted suicides were the sixth-leading cause of death in Canada, according to a Statistics Canada report. It said 13,241 Canadians accessed the medical procedure then, accounting for one in 25 deaths (4.1%).
Only cancer (24.7%), heart disease (17.2%), COVID-19 (5.90%), accidents (5.50%), and cerebrovascular diseases (4.17%) killed more Canadians.
Meanwhile, Quebecers who remain mentally fit and face “serious and incurable diseases” like Alzheimer’s may request the procedure in advance, as of October 30.
In the fifth annual report, Quebecers constituted more than a third of cases last year at 5,601, followed by Ontario (4,644) and British Columbia (2,759).
Minister Holland clarified that such requests contravene the Criminal Code. To be eligible for the procedure, a person must be mentally sound and be assessed by two doctors or nurse practitioners.
When asked if he would challenge the directive, Holland said he would not direct provincial prosecutions at this time. The federal government launched consultations with regional healthcare providers and provincial leaders last month, with a final report expected for next spring.
A recent Leger poll found that two-thirds of Canadians (65%) believe people with an illness “that can affect their cognitive ability” should be able to make an early request for MAID. This proportion is higher among Quebecers (77%).
On January 29, Conservative and NDP MPs released a report urging Ottawa not to expand assisted suicide legislation without sufficient provincial and expert consultations.
Nearly half (47%) of Leger respondents endorsed pausing the policy in place of more comprehensive consultations. However, 37% disagreed with the delay.
“Minister, there are no legislative safeguards,” said Conservative MP Michael Cooper at a Commons health committee hearing then. “Well, you can say that,” replied Holland.
“You haven’t cited one. You haven’t cited any,” continued Cooper. “And you haven’t responded to 78% of Ontario psychiatrists who believe that whatever safeguards will be put in place will be insufficient,” he added.
“We’re talking about wrongful deaths when there has been an inappropriate application of MAID.” Holland eventually adopted the committee's recommendations.
Alex Dhaliwal
Calgary Based Journalist
Alex Dhaliwal is a Political Science graduate from the University of Calgary. He has actively written on relevant Canadian issues with several prominent interviews under his belt.
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COMMENTS
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Bruce Atchison commented 2024-12-12 18:07:11 -0500I see the same troubling train of events with MAID as I do with Hitler’s euthanasia program. First severely disabled patients were put to death. Then those with lesser disabilities. The “safe and effective” hospitals lied about cause of death but they were sloppy. Folks soon realized that their children didn’t die of a burst appendix which they had removed years before and teenagers didn’t die of old age. Hitler closed down Action T4, as the program was called, but he used those gas chambers for Jews and other “undesirables” until the Soviet and Allied forces crushed Germany. Some nurses were still giving lethal shots or starving disabled people weeks after the war ended. Do we want our home and native land to become the next reich?
