A former Paralympian and military veteran has told a parliamentary committee in Canada of her horror at being offered a medical assistance in dying (MAID) instead of a wheelchair ramp that she had been requesting for five years.
This shocking case, the latest involving the Government’s Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) group, comes a week after the veteran’s affairs minister confirmed that at least four other veterans were offered the same thing.
Retired Cpl. Christine Gauthier, told the MP on Thursday that a caseworker told her that they could give her assisted dying, even offering to supply the MAID equipment for her.
“I was completely shocked and in despair,” she told Canada’s CTV broadcaster. “It is remotely just what they’re doing: exhausting us to the point of no return.”
Gauthier said the offer for MAID came during a phone call with a VAC case worker where she was describing her deteriorating condition.
The veteran suffered permanent damage to her knees and spine after jumping in a deep hole while training on an obstacle course.
“It was just getting too much and unbearable. And the person at VAC mentioned at that point, ‘Well, you know that we can assist you with assisted dying now if you’d like.’ And I was just shocked because I was like, ‘Are you serious?’ Like that easy, you’re going to be helping me to die but you won’t help me to live?” she said.
After being medically discharged from the military, Gauthier, competed in the Paralympic Games and the Invictus Games in 2016.
So shocked by her experience, she wrote to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay.
A spokesperson for MacAulay said Veterans Affairs is taking the issue “very seriously,” while adding that providing advice on MAID is “not a VAC service.”
Last week, the Minister told the committee that the department had found four instances of MAID being offered to veterans during an internal investigation that was prompted by media reports.
“If any of the veterans in question are watching or listening right now, I am sorry. I am sorry you had to endure these appalling interactions and we are doing everything we can to ensure this never happens again,” MacAulay said.
He later claimed that were just four instances, which took place between 2019 and May 2022, which all related to one single employee. However, it was later revealed that Gauthier’s experience was not one of the four confirmed cases being investigated.
The emerging news of Canadian veterans being offered a medically assisted death instead of social care and adequate financial support, comes as the UK Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee have announced a review of assisted suicide and euthanasia legislation. As part of their investigation, they plan to look at the real-world experiences of those jurisdictions that have legalised assisted suicide and euthanasia.
Health and Social Care Committee Chair Steve Brine MP said: “The debate on assisted dying and assisted suicide understandably arouses passionate views with many different and equally valid perspectives. It’s an issue that has vexed parliamentarians who have sought a way through the many ethical, moral, practical and humane considerations involved.
“What has changed in recent years is that there is now real-world evidence to look at. Some form of assisted dying or assisted suicide is legal in at least 27 jurisdictions worldwide. It became legal in Canada in 2015; the Netherlands in 2001; Oregon in the United States in 1994. So it is time to review the actual impact of changes in the law in other countries in order to inform the debate in our own. Our inquiry will examine that evidence, hearing from all sides of the debate. The government has stated it is for parliament to decide on the issue so our purpose is to inform parliament in any debate.
“I will be approaching this inquiry with compassion and an open mind as I know will my select committee colleagues. We want to hear from campaigners, members of the medical profession and members of the public and we will look at the moral, ethical and practical concerns raised in a way that is informed by actual evidence.”
ENDS