Euthanasia instills fear of health care system for people with disabilities

Paul Tuns:

During testimony before the parliamentary Finance Committee, Krista Carr, CEO of Inclusion Canada, a disabilities group, told MPs that she is aware of Canadians who are concerned about accessing health care because they might be pressured toward Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

Carr was addressing the committee’s hearing on Bill C-4, “An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure,” on Oct. 8. Bill C-4 does not address MAiD. The government bill would reduce the income tax rate for the lowest tax bracket, implement a temporary GST housing rebate, and rescind the carbon tax.

Carr said that since Track 2 MAiD was implemented in 2021 – which allows patients who are not terminally ill to be euthanized – people with disabilities are targeted “for medical assistance in dying when they are not dying” and “that has certainly changed people’s interactions with the health care system quite dramatically.”

She said: “People with disabilities are now very much afraid in many circumstances to show up in the healthcare system with regular concerns because often MAiD is suggested as the solution to what is considered to be intolerable suffering that happens to be caused by some of the things that this committee addresses like poverty and the situations that people with disabilities disproportionately find themselves in compared to other Canadians.”

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan) asked Carr to clarify if people with disabilities avoid accessing health care because of concerns about MAiD. Carr said “that is correct.”

Genuis asked if that was common and Carr said she hears of such cases weekly.

Genuis asked what Carr thought legislators should do about it.

Carr said she would like to see Track 2 MAiD repealed “completely,” but “in the interim, anything that anyone can do to limit this from being pushed on people with disabilities who are seeking support to live would be a welcome change.” She admitted that such changes are “Probably not something this committee can deal with,” but urged MPs to act “in your individual capacity as legislators.”

Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, called the statement “explosive testimony” and said it highlights that “Parliament must protect people with disabilities and all Canadians accessing healthcare.”

Schadenberg said that under Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying law, medical professionals are allowed to “offer euthanasia rather than only discussing the topic when people ask about it.”

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