From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

‘Instead of providing the support and resources we need to live, our government is offering death,’ a coalition of disability advocacy groups said in a press release about its legal challenge to Canada’s euthanasia regime.

A coalition of Canadian disability advocacy groups have banded together to file a “Charter Challenge” against the federal government for allowing the euthanasia of people who are not terminally ill but suffer from chronic illness or disability.

The coalition said its legal challenge, which is before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, “is about protecting the equality and human rights of all people with disabilities in Canada,” as set out in the nation’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“Instead of providing the support and resources we need to live, our government is offering death. It’s unacceptable, and we won’t stand for it,” noted National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) Heather Walkus in a press release for the coalition released on September 27.  

The coalition is made up of the CCD, Inclusion Canada, Indigenous Disability Canada (IDC/BCANDS), DAWN Canada, and two people who were harmed by Canada’s so-called “Track 2 MAiD” allowances. 

The group said it “opposes” Track 2 of Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) law, “which provides assisted suicide to people with a disability who are not dying, or whose death is not ‘reasonably foreseeable.’”  

The group is claiming in its court challenge that making MAiD available to people who are not dying but may have a serious medical condition is a violation of their “fundamental rights” to liberty and security of the person.  

According to Inclusion Canada’s Executive Vice-President Krista Carr, people in Canada “are dying” as a consequence of the current law. 

“We are witnessing an alarming trend where people with disabilities are seeking assisted suicide due to social deprivation, poverty, and lack of essential supports,” noted Carr. 

“This law also sends a devastating message that life with a disability is a fate worse than death, undermining decades of work toward equity and inclusion. It’s time to put an end to helping people with disabilities commit suicide and start supporting them to live.”  

When MAiD was first legalized by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2016 it was restricted to those whose death was considered “reasonably foreseeable.” While euthanasia is tantamount to murder and thus gravely immoral even in cases of terminal illness, as taught by the Catholic Church, the law was loosened further in 2021 with the allowance of “Track 2” cases.

In its press release, the coalition noted that “Track 2 MAiD” has resulted in “premature deaths and an increase in discrimination and stigma towards people with disabilities across the country.” 

“While they are not challenging MAiD Track 1 in this case, they recognize that it too can pose significant problems for people with disabilities. Track 2 MAiD has had a direct negative impact on the lives of people with disabilities.” 

The coalition, which supports “Track 1” cases, is “urging the court” to “strike down Track 2 of Canada’s MAiD law, arguing that providing assisted death solely on the basis of disability is unconstitutional.” 

Despite the immorality of euthanasia in general, and the extra threat posed by Canada’s additional allowance of  “Track 2” cases, euthanasia advocates continue to insist the laws be further expanded.

LifeSiteNews recently reported how the Quebec government said it will soon allow early “advance” requests for euthanasia despite it being disallowed by current federal law. If such a practice were allowed, it would mean a person in Quebec could “agree” to be killed at some point in the future, and thus would not have to give consent at the time of their actual death.

Beyond current “Track 2” cases, Trudeau’s Liberal government has even tried to expand euthanasia to those suffering solely from mental illness.

In February, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027. 

Overall, 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. 

Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

The province has the highest rate of MAiD in Canada, with a 17 percent increase in 2023 alone and 5,686 deaths reported. This represents a staggering 7.3 percent of all deaths in the province that year and means that Quebec has the highest euthanasia rates in the world.

The Quebec government said it will soon allow early “advance” requests for euthanasia even though it is still not allowed by federal law.

Starting October 30, Quebec residents will be able to request Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in advance. The provincial law to allow MAiD in advance was passed in June 2023 and came with a timeline stating that it had to be put into force within 24 months.

On September 7, provincial Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette of the Coalition Avenir Québec government said in a statement to the media that all residents in the province will soon be able to ask for advance MAiD requests. In August, senior ministers from the provincial government said they would not “wait any longer” for Canada’s federal Criminal Code to be amended to allow the change.

As it stands, the federal government has not approved MAiD by advance request, meaning it is not legal.

When it comes to criminal law, this falls under federal jurisdiction, which promoted Jolin-Barrette, as reported by CBC, going as far as to ask the Crown’s Prosecution Office to not lay any charges when medical personnel terminate the life of a person who has asked for an advance request.

Canadian Health Minister Mark Holland, recently asked about Quebec going ahead with its new MAiD rules, said the government is “still evaluating it because we’ve just received it, and it’s important that we have a conversation as a society about the implications of this.”

In Canada, there are two euthanasia laws, those passed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government and those in Quebec, which passed Bill 11 in 2023. The bill expands MAiD to those with a serious physical disability and mandates hospices offer the procedure in addition to allowing euthanasia by advance request.

As it stands today, Quebec has the highest rate of MAiD in Canada, with a 17 percent increase in 2023 alone and 5,686 deaths reported. This represents a staggering 7.3 percent of all deaths in the province that year and means that Quebec has the highest euthanasia rates in the world.

When it comes to MAiD, Trudeau’s Liberal government sought to expand it from the chronically and terminally ill to those suffering solely from mental illness.

However, in February, after pushback from pro-life, medical, and mental health groups as well as most of Canada’s provinces, the federal government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.

Overall, the number of Canadians killed by lethal injection 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.