An Ontario family is raising serious questions about Canada’s rapidly expanding medical assistance in dying system after alleging their 83-year-old grandmother was euthanized despite previously rejecting MAID and failing to give a final verbal confirmation before the procedure.

Brigitte Stegemann died by lethal injection on July 10 at The Pearl, formerly E.J. McQuigge Lodge, a long-term care facility in Belleville, Ontario, according to an account first reported by LifeNews.

Stegemann had been diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer approximately five months before her death.

According to her family, Stegemann had been asked about medical assistance in dying roughly two months before her death and “clearly stated that she did not wish to pursue it.”

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A devout Christian, Stegemann reportedly said MAID conflicted with her religious beliefs and that she wanted to die naturally.

Her granddaughter, also named Brigitte, held power of attorney and had acted as Stegemann’s primary caregiver and advocate for more than 12 years. The family says staff routinely contacted her regarding medications, treatment and other care decisions.

However, while the granddaughter was away on a 10-day vacation, the family alleges facility staff held private discussions with Stegemann about MAID without informing her family or advocate.

The family says this was particularly concerning because Stegemann had severe hearing impairment and periods of lethargy and unresponsiveness.

During a capacity assessment on July 6 and 7, Stegemann reportedly gave incorrect answers to basic questions about her own life. When asked whether she had siblings, she allegedly said she had none, despite being the second-youngest of 14 children. She also reportedly said none of her siblings remained alive, although some were still living and she had recently spoken with one.

According to the family, Stegemann became confused and began crying during the assessment, at one point saying, “I forgot about the grandkids.”

Her family says they corrected many of her answers and directly challenged how she could be considered capable of providing informed consent to her own death.

The physician nevertheless determined Stegemann was capable of making the decision, according to the family's account.

The procedure was scheduled for July 10.

The family also alleges the date was selected before official MAID application paperwork had been completed and that facility staff subsequently completed and witnessed the paperwork without informing Stegemann's power of attorney.

The family's most serious allegation concerns what happened immediately before Stegemann's death.

According to Life News, they say they had been specifically assured Stegemann would be required to give a final, explicit verbal confirmation on the day of the procedure that she still wanted to proceed.

On July 10, however, the family says Stegemann remained silent when the physician arrived, with her hands held in a prayer position.

“Tragically, we were left alarmed and horrified when the clinical team completely ignored her silence and carried the procedure forward regardless,” the family said in its public statement.

Stegemann died shortly afterward.

The family characterized what happened as “a systemic failure driven by clinical arrogance, a total lack of transparency, and a blatant disregard for the safeguards meant to protect vulnerable patients.”

The allegations have not been tested in court, and the account does not include responses from the physician or long-term care facility.

The case comes as the number of Canadians dying through MAID continues to grow significantly.

Canada legalized medical assistance in dying in 2016. According to Health Canada's latest annual report, 16,499 people received MAID in 2024, accounting for 5.1 percent of all deaths in the country.

That was up from 15,343 MAID deaths in 2023 and 13,241 in 2022.

The growth since legalization has been substantial. Health Canada recorded 1,018 assisted deaths in 2016, followed by 2,838 in 2017, 4,478 in 2018, 5,660 in 2019 and 7,595 in 2020. The annual total surpassed 10,000 for the first time in 2021.

By the end of 2024, more than 76,000 Canadians had died through MAID since legalization.

Health Canada has not yet published complete national annual-report figures for 2025 or 2026, meaning claims that Canada's cumulative MAID total has now surpassed 100,000 are not yet confirmed by the latest comprehensive federal data.

The Stegemann family is calling for greater transparency, mandatory involvement of family advocates in cases involving cognitively vulnerable patients and stricter accountability surrounding MAID safeguards.

Roughly one in every 20 deaths in Canada is now occurring through MAID.