My husband and I recently updated our wills and medical powers of attorney due to recent changes in our family dynamics. We had to make sure we both understood what the other would want in terms of medical care if we were unable to return from a debilitating injury or illness.
Everyone should have these conversations at some point in their lives to make sure their wishes are clear and to make the decision-making process as easy as possible for family members who may have to speak on their behalf. Unfortunately, however, our neighbors to the north have taken a right to a dignified death to a new level, which is frightening.
In a real-time example of what too much liberalism can do to a nation, Canada shows the world how they treat those with disabilities, veterans, and mental illness.
With many in our country having touted the greatness of the Canadian medical and government system, we should pay attention to what may be in store for us in the not-so-distant dystopian future.
After assisted suicide was legalized in Canada, many severely ill patients have found themselves effectively forced into "voluntary" euthanasia by healthcare costs, or even hospitals just refusing to treat them.
Euthanasia is now the sixth leading cause of death in Canada. pic.twitter.com/oqY3H6npuB
— Possum Reviews (@ReviewsPossum) August 14, 2022
You Could Just Die?
Last week Canadian Army veteran and Paralympian Christine Gauthier provided shocking testimony to parliament regarding her experience trying to get a wheelchair lift installed in her home.
She had been trying to get her wheelchair lift installed since 2017 from the Canadian Veterans Affairs (VAC) and, after many frustrating delays, had pushed the VAC to provide the care she needed.
Sounds similar to our Veterans Affairs. When dealing with the VAC, the counselor told her:
“Madam, if you are really so desperate, we can give you medical assistance in dying now.”
Think about that for a minute. Instead of doing their job and finding a way to get a wheelchair lift in this veteran’s home so she could move about with dignity, she was offered death.
Ms. Gauthier told parliament:
“I was like, ‘I can’t believe that you will…give me an injection to help me die, but you will not give me the tools I need to help me live.'”
A government probe found that at least four other Canadian veterans were offered suicide by their Veterans Affairs department. So much for honoring those who serve.
One of Canada’s best-known fashion retailers, Quebec-based La Maison Simons, has launched an advertising campaign based on euthanasia.
They want you to just kill yourself now. Ultimate marketing. What a time this is. Unreal. pic.twitter.com/0qDuMLUECU
— Henrik Palmgren ?? ? ᛟ (@Henrik_Palmgren) November 28, 2022
The Law
Euthanasia has been legal in Canada since 2016 for terminally ill Canadians. Last year it was expanded to people with long-term disabilities, which seems to be where most of the controversy resides.
Last year 3% of deaths in Canada were attributed to euthanasia, to the tune of 10,000 Canadians. The law is expected to expand even further next year.
In 2023 a new bill will go into effect allowing those with mental illness to receive euthanasia. Let that sink in for a second.
Are you suffering from depression? Perhaps you would prefer to die instead of receiving mental health treatment.
Yeah, that seems like an excellent option to provide someone dealing with a mental illness that tends to already lead to suicidal ideations.
Are you a veteran struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Why not let the government kill you? After all, no more night terrors, no more trying to cope with your new life; just let the Canadian medical community guide you into the sweet release of death. Good God, Canucks, what has happened to you?
There is even discussion of allowing “mature” minors to opt for euthanasia if they fit the qualifiers of terminal illness, disability, or mental illness without parental consent. Let’s go ahead and look to this clown show as an example of how to run a country.
2016 – Legalization of euthanasia in Canada for the terminally ill.
2021 – Legalization of euthanasia for those without a terminal illness.
2022 – Legalization of euthanasia being considered for babies.
Prime example of the proverbial slippery slope.
— Mattea Merta (@MatteaMerta) November 30, 2022
A Convenient Solution
This law wouldn’t be in place if it weren’t for a contingent of supporters. The group Dying with Dignity in Canada is one of the more outspoken supporters, and they claim these laws are:
“driven by compassion, an end to suffering and discrimination and desire for personal autonomy.”
An end to discrimination? One can assume they are referring to discrimination based on disabilities.
Why wouldn’t you as a country attempt to make it easier to live in your country with a disability, as opposed to providing death as a solution? Well, probably because it’s easier.
Assistant adjunct professor at the University of Alberta Heidi Janz explains:
“A person with disabilities in Canada has to jump through so many hoops to get support that it can often be enough to tip the scales to euthanasia.”
It seems to me the Canadian government finds it easier to get rid of those with disabilities than it would be to fix the broken system meant to help them.
Head of the Human Rights Commission Marie-Claude Landry highlights this concept:
“Euthanasia cannot be a default for Canada’s failure to fulfill its human rights obligations.”
Really does seem Canada's euthanasia policy is proving that those saying euthanasia is a slippery slope were 100% correct https://t.co/ZQDcHMVOkG
— Douglas Rooney (@Doug_rooney) December 4, 2022
Looking In The Mirror
There has been a lot of talk about civilized discourse and governments lately. Canada is well known for its liberal policies, and I would argue that it is considered a ‘civilized’ country.
However, their push for ‘dignified death’ seems more like a prologue to some futuristic dystopian novel. Director of the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia Tim Stainton has an interesting comparison, stating this euthanasia law is:
“probably the biggest existential threat to disabled people since the Nazis’ program in Germany in the 1930s.”
That might be the best invocation of Nazi Germany I’ve heard in a long time. So you might be asking yourself, why we should care about what is happening across our northern border?
My answer to you would be, other than the obvious push of the left in our own country to a more liberal government like Canada, to take a look at how we treat our disabled veterans in this country.
How many American veterans have opted to kill themselves because our broken VA has failed to provide the assistance they need and are entitled to?
How easy it would be to just slowly, by little legislative measures, get rid of those of us who are disabled than actually to take care of us. When a government starts weighing what lives are worth living and what aren’t, you are just one step away from a dark future.
"As the rest of the world stands aghast at Canada’s euthanasia,… advocates of euthanasia will continue to sell it as something progressive, cool and modern – rather than as a cost-saving measure that frees up hospital beds, by eradicating the least convenient in society. " https://t.co/QRTczRv4GP
— Isabel Grant (@igrantubc) December 3, 2022
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