Connect with us
[the_ad id="89560"]

Health

Canadian provinces push back after Trudeau’s health minister says MAiD will eventually be expanded

Published

4 months ago

6 minute read

Liberal Health Minister Mark Holland

From LifeSiteNews

BY Clare Marie Merkowsky

Holland has told Canadians that the government, is still seeking to expand MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) to those suffering from mental health issues; it just needs more time to prepare the ‘system.’

The Trudeau government still intends to provide euthanasia to mentally ill Canadians, but provincial health ministers are asking for the measure to be “indefinitely” postponed.   

On January 30, health ministers from Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut appealed to Liberal Health Minister Mark Holland to “indefinitely pause” expanding MAiD eligibility to the mentally ill.   

On January 29, Holland told Canadians that the Liberal government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, is still seeking to expand MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying) to those suffering from mental health issues; it just needs more time to prepare the “system.” 

“We agree with the conclusion that the committee has come to that the system is not ready, and more time is required,” Holland told reporters, referring to a report that “fundamental issues” regarding the expansion have yet to be resolved.   

The new provision, which was to take effect in March, would have relaxed legislation around so-called MAiD to include those suffering solely from mental illness. This is a result of the 2021 passage of Bill C-7, which also allowed the chronically ill – not just the terminally ill – to qualify for so-called doctor-assisted death. 

On Monday, following pushback from Canadians, Holland announced that Canada is not ready for the expansion and has determined to delay it. However, Holland stressed that this is not an abandonment of the new policy but merely a postponement.  

“What we’re saying is that … someone in that intractable situation … should have that right, but the system needs to be ready, and the system needs to get it right,” he added, not explaining how being killed would help their situation.  

Holland did not reveal when the expansion is expected to take effect but disclosed that “those individuals are gonna have to wait a little longer” to end their lives by lethal injection.  

The Liberal government’s desire to expand MAiD to those suffering with mental health issues comes despite several experts, and provincial health ministers, warning against the move.  

RELATED: Canada’s top pro-life group urges Trudeau gov’t to drop euthanasia expansion entirely

The provincial health ministers’ appeal echoes that of leading Canadian psychiatrist Dr. K. Sonu Gaind, who testified that the expansion of MAiD “is not so much a slippery slope as a runaway train.” 

Similarly, in November, several Canadian psychiatrists warned that the country is “not ready” for the coming expansion of euthanasia to those who are mentally ill. They said that further liberalizing the procedure is not something that “society should be doing” as it could lead to deaths under a “false pretence.” 

The expansion of euthanasia to those with mental illness even has the far-left New Democratic Party (NDP) concerned. Dismissing these concerns, a Trudeau Foundation fellow actually said Trudeau’s current euthanasia regime is marked by “privilege,” assuring the Canadian people that most of those being put to death are “white,” “well off,” and “highly educated.” 

The most recent reports show that MAiD is the sixth highest cause of death. However, it was not listed as such in Statistics Canada’stop 10 leading causes of death from 2019 to 2022. When asked why MAiD was left off the list, the agency explained that it records the illnesses that led Canadians to choose to end their lives via euthanasia, not the actual cause of death, as the primary cause of death.

According to Health Canada, in 2022, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD lethal injections. This accounts for 4.1 percent of all deaths in the country for that year,a 31.2 percent increase from 2021.    

While the numbers for 2023 have yet to be released, all indications point to a situation even more grim than 2022. 

Meanwhile, the pro-life Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC)has  launched a campaign to have the expansion thrown out. The campaign includes a rally and media conference on Parliament Hill on February 6 at 11 a.m. local time. 

The movement also features a parliamentary postcard campaign, encouraging Canadians to  send letters stating: “I demand that the government reverse its decision to permit ‘MAiD’ for mental illness alone.”  

EPC also launched a petition to urge the Justice Minister  to offer real care to those suffering from mental illness and not death by lethal injection.

Related Topics:

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

More from this author
Health / 9 mins ago

South Korean president declares low birth rate a ‘national emergency,’ plans new ministry to address it

COVID-19 / 60 mins ago

Elon Musk-backed doctor critical of COVID response vows appeal after court sides with medical board

COVID-19 / 2 hours ago

Healthcare workers obtain partial win against Bonnie Henry in BC Supreme Court

Health

South Korean president declares low birth rate a ‘national emergency,’ plans new ministry to address it

Published on May 15, 2024

By

From LifeSiteNews

By Andreas Wailzer

President Yoon Suk Yeol announced that he would ask for the parliament’s support to establish a new Ministry of Low Birth Rate Counter Planning after the country reached a new low with an average number of babies per woman of 0.72 in 2023.

South Korea’s president has declared the country’s low birth rate a “national emergency” and announced a new government ministry to address the problem.

In a televised press conference on May 9, President Yoon Suk Yeol said, “We will mobilize all of the nation’s capabilities to overcome the low birth rate, which can be considered a national emergency.”

He announced he would ask for the parliament’s support to establish a new “Ministry of Low Birth Rate Counter Planning.”

South Korea has had the lowest fertility rate in the world for years, and the average number of babies per woman dropped to a new low of 0.72 in 2023, down from 0.78 the previous year.

Despite the government’s efforts to increase the birth rate by spending over $200 billion on initiatives meant to encourage larger families, including infertility treatment, cash subsidies, and childcare services, the country’s birth rate declined for the fourth year in a row in 2023.

A Korean Construction corporation made headlines this year for offering employees $75,000 for each baby they have. “If Korea’s birth rate remains low, the country will face extinction,” Lee Joong-keun, chairman of the Booyoung Group, warned.

READ: New ‘Birthgap’ film shows how explosion in childlessness is driving population collapse

According to YouTuber Stephan Park, who grew up in South Korea and runs the YouTube channel Asian Boss, Korean men face the additional problem of being expected to own a house when they marry, which is very difficult under the country’s current economic conditions.

“There are all the societal pressures that if you get married, guys are the ones that are supposed to buy the house, to have the house ready, which is impossible to have if you are a 30-year-old guy … with the average house prices you’ll never be able to afford one in your lifetime,” Park explained.

“So that’s the most common thing we hear: ‘I cannot afford to get married,’” he added.

According to some projections, South Korea’s and multiple other Western and Asian populations are expected to be cut in half by the year 2100 if the current trends continue.

Continue Reading

Alberta

Pharmacist-led clinics improve access to health care: Lessons from Alberta

Published on May 15, 2024

By

News release from the Montreal Economic Institute

In Canada, 35 per cent of avoidable emergency room visits could be handled by pharmacists.

Emulating Alberta’s pharmacist-led clinic model could enhance access to primary care and help avoid unnecessary emergency room visits, according to a new study from the Montreal Economic Institute.

“Pharmacists know medication better than anyone else in our health systems,” explains Krystle Wittevrongel, senior public policy analyst and Alberta project lead at the MEI. “By unlocking their full potential in prescribing and substituting medications, Alberta’s pharmacist-led clinics have helped avoid tens of thousands of unnecessary emergency room visits.”

Pharmacists in Alberta have the largest prescribing authority in the country, including the ability to prescribe schedule one drugs with special training.

Unlike in Ontario and Manitoba, Alberta pharmacists are authorized to substitute prescribed medications, which can help address issues such as adverse reactions caused by interaction with other treatments.

The study explains that this can help reduce pressure on hospitals, as prescription-related issues account for more than 10 per cent of emergency room visits.

Alberta’s first pharmacist-led clinic, in Lethbridge, sees between 14,600 and 21,900 patients per year since opening in 2022.

It is expected that there will be 103 such clinics active in the province by the end of 2024.

The researcher also links the success of the pharmacist-led clinic model in Alberta to pharmacists’ expanded scope of practice in the province.

Among other things, Alberta pharmacists are able to order and interpret lab tests, unlike their counterparts in British Columbia, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador.

A 2019 peer-reviewed study found that pharmacists could handle 35 per cent of avoidable emergency room visits in Canada.

“By enabling pharmacists to play a larger role in its health system, Alberta is redirecting minor cases from emergency rooms to more appropriate facilities,” said Wittevrongel. “Just imagine how much faster things could be if pharmacists could take care of 35 per cent of the unnecessary load placed on Canada’s emergency rooms.”

The MEI study is available here.

* * *

The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policy-makers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship. 

Continue Reading

Trending

X