Alarming statistics have emerged since the implementation of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in 2016. If you were unaware, this refers to a process in which a terminally ill adult may make the decision to end their life with assistance from a medical team, as long as they are in a suitably capable and stable state of mind to do so.

This topic is already highly controversial as it is, but has gained more upset with the new parameters outlined in the Fourth annual report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada 2022 released October 26th 2023. 

At surface level, it is commonly agreed that someone who is living in agony and will be for the rest of their days should be allowed to have a safe means of ending their life, but it is becoming harder to defend such an act when it is becoming increasingly clear that MAiD is not a means of limiting inevitable human suffering, but rather eliminating the cause of suffering at the source, which in this case is living. 

Bill C-14, the original legislation for MAiD, had very strict guidelines as to who could access such a resource. One had to be suffering from an incurable disease, illness, or disability that was causing physical or psychological suffering that could not be alleviated. While these guidelines seem rigid, they still fail to protect a vast majority of Canadians from wanting to end their lives based on loopholes within the legislation. For example, you may have heard about a story from late 2022, in which a 54-year-old man filed for MAiD upon facing homelessness, as his disability prohibited him from working, leaving him to live off an insufficient amount of welfare. While this man was fortunate enough to gain support from his community via a GoFundMe, many are not this lucky. 

In 2021, MAiD was the seventh leading cause of death in Canada. Predictions claim it will become top five shortly as in 2022, 13,200 more Canadians died via MAiD—a 30% increase from the year prior, bringing the total number of deaths by MAiD just shy of 50,000 since the program began in 2016. 

Earlier this year, there was talk of expanding these guidelines to include those who are mentally ill as eligible for MAiD. Proposed eligible conditions included depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. This was immediately met with public backlash, causing a delay in the implementation of these new guidelines, but only until March 2024. 

Many were disappointed, but not surprised, with the Canadian government's decision to open up eligibility to the mentally ill. With waitlists spanning years and a mental health crisis on the rise, it was not surprising to see Canadians distaste towards such a program. It really feels as if the Canadian government would rather eradicate the mentally ill population, rather than funding the much needed social support and allowing for equal access to said support.

Just as talk of MAiD just began to die down, more new additions to the guidelines have resparked controversy among the public. More treatable mental illnesses are being considered to be added to the list of eligible diseases, disabilities, and illnesses for MAiD, such as anorexia. Drug addiction will also fall under this expanded umbrella. This comes as unsurprising with the rising drug problem here in Canada, but again begs the question of how deeply Canada really cares about its citizens.

‍Activists against MAiD eligibility for drug users say that in regards to mental health and substance use, MAiD is rooted in eugenics—wanting to eradicate the population they consider to be infected without spending too much money. Getting people to consent to suicide is easier and less costly than actually helping them, and implementing social systems that work to reduce these kind of interactions. This legislation is said to be implemented next spring. 

It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, most believe it to be ethical to allow consenting adults who are suffering from a grievous and incurable illness to be able to have access to such a program. Nobody wants to prolong, or add to human suffering. 

Yet on the other hand, when we really think about how many people are truly living with a grievous and incurable condition that negatively affects their quality of life, the scope of eligibility is just far too wide, and becomes a simple way to forget about the underlying societal reasons for our suffering. When the mentally ill are all dead, there will be nobody to talk about Canada’s unreliable and seemingly uncaring healthcare system. When people living with active addiction are eradicated, there will be no one to talk about how drug addiction is a consequence of living in a failing society. 

People may think it's too grand of a scheme that the Canadian government would want to eradicate their most costly populations right at the source under a misleading veil of ethics, but it is becoming increasingly harder to deny with the continued expansions for eligibility for MAiD. The Canadian government continues to push off actually implementing these new legislations, but it is apparent that they have no plans to actually reevaluate the helpfulness of MAiD and come up with better solutions to this country's most prominent problems. 

With a common theme among these recent attempted changes to the bill, it is worth questioning if we should even have legislation of this kind. Even though it was created through a vision of ethics and morality, it seems as if it may be being misused or misinterpreted to become something entirely unethical. We have until spring 2024 for the verdict, which will hopefully provide clear and strict guidelines as to who can access such a powerful resource. Perhaps this will even spark deeper, more meaningful conversations about allocation of funds and other resources to the most vulnerable communities that need it most. Bill C-14 cannot be used as a solution to the other issues permeating this country, and I urge you to see that those struggling with mental health issues and addiction deserve more than government-sanctioned death as this is not care, or harm reduction, but rather eugenic eradication.