Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The occupation forces continue their violations, and warplanes are entering Gazan airspace at this moment.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The fate of thousands of civilians and journalists remains unknown.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The occupation forces continue bombing various areas of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas: We renew our pledge to our brave prisoners and their families that they will remain at the heart of our priorities, and we will not rest until the last prisoner enjoys freedom.
Hamas: We are awaiting the final approval of the names ahead of announcing them through the Prisoners’ Media Office.
Hamas: We affirm that we have submitted the lists of Palestinian prisoners according to the agreed-upon criteria within the framework of the agreement.
Gaza Media Office: We urge our people not to move around Al-Rashid and Salah al-Din streets or their surrounding areas.
Gaza Government Media Office: We stress to our Palestinian people the need to exercise maximum caution during their movements and travel.
Guterres: I urge all concerned to abide fully by the terms of the agreement.
Guterres welcomes the announcement of an agreement to secure a ceasefire and the release of captives in Gaza, based on President Trump’s proposal.

Canada going as far as possible abuse with MAiD, hitting brakes needed

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Star
  • 25 Nov 2022 22:34
5 Min Read

Reports question why Canada is relying on MAiD and not providing social support for those suffering not only from a terminal illness but also from poverty and despair.

  • x
  • Canada goes far with medical assistance in dying and expands MAiD access.
    The danger of abuse is becoming ever more apparent (Radio-Canada)

Death has been sanitized and institutionalized to a large extent throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first centuries, with the dying assigned to hospitals or nursing homes, out of sight, and the bodies efficiently whisked away by professionals in the business of tidy dispatch.

The debate in Canada over medical aid in dying, or MAiD, brought about tons of issues to consider, including the ways and means of death and the choice one makes regarding how to exit from the mortal stage.

The procedure was legalized in 2016 with the goal of allowing those with terminal illnesses to seek the assistance of doctors in alleviating their suffering as they near inevitable death.

However, MAiD was expanded in 2021 to include people whose deaths are not reasonably foreseeable.

In modern times, the Western world has not been at ease discussing or contemplating death.

Canada is literally using MAiD to kill the disabled and or poor. Here is a list of individuals who felt they had NO OTHER CHOICE but to consider or engage in MAiD because the government refused to help them.

(1/?)

— Shelby (@Lefty_Mind) November 23, 2022

What are the qualifications? 

To qualify, individuals must have a serious incurable illness or disability, must be in an advanced state of irreversible decline, and must suffer from intolerable physical or psychological pain.

In very short order, however, Canada has become the world leader in MAiD, and the country seems to have stepped onto a slippery slope.

Alarmingly, appallingly, stories have arisen that MAiD was not limited to terminal cases but has expanded to include people seeking death out of despair.

Medical assistance, or suicide assistance?

Amir Farsoud, of St. Catharines, sought help to end his life about a month ago. He didn't want to die, said the now-55-year-old. But his rooming house was for sale, and he couldn't find affordable housing. Farsoud, who suffers from a debilitating back condition, relied on his meager disability payments and was afraid of becoming homeless. As a result, he sought medical aid in dying or MAiD.

Related News

Trump, Carney discuss Golden Dome and defense cooperation

Trump claims Gaza ceasefire progress, plans Canada tariff talks

Farsoud's application was approved by one doctor, and he was looking for another when he spoke to CityNews in October.

The doctor tried to talk him out of it, Farsoud said. “But eventually I convinced him … I was going to die, one way or another. It was just a question of, ‘Do I have to take a bus to Toronto and jump in front of the subway, or will you be kind enough to do it?’”

Farsoud isn’t the only person who has sought MAiD because of a lack of proper housing, healthcare support, access to specialists, or abject poverty.

How is MAiD expanding? 

MAiD will be available to people suffering solely from mental illness beginning in March. This is despite the fact that experts disagree on whether a person's mental illness can be accurately diagnosed as "irreversible", that depressed people frequently want to die, and that access to treatment is uneven.

The government’s own expert panel concluded “it is difficult, if not impossible, for clinicians to make accurate predictions about the future for an individual patient.”

Dr. John Maher of Ontario told a joint Senate/House of Commons committee investigating MAiD that some of his patients are now refusing treatment in order to be eligible for MAiD. “Telling my patients that you will make it easier for them to die has enraged me,” he said.

With cases of MAiD expected to rise, it is worth asking whether the state is encouraging people to choose a dignified death by failing to provide them with the means for a dignified life.

A pause is much needed. 

'Assisted suicide'

The whole perspective raises a myriad of questions that cannot be answered decisively. One cannot but think how the unthinkable becomes "normal", if not "inevitable". How does the abnormal become "normal" although in a horrifying way? 

All these questions surface as a major Canadian medical organization is pushing the idea of allowing doctors to do something that’s long been considered unthinkable and abnormal: killing infants who are born with conditions that make survival "impossible".

The Quebec College of Physicians made the case for this before a parliamentary committee studying changes to Canada’s law on medical assistance in dying (MAID), a.k.a. assisted suicide.

Those in favor of "assisted suicide" try to argue that the college’s proposal involves only newborns with severe malformations whose chance for life is “basically nil". It wouldn’t be a license to kill babies, they dare claim.

But this brings forth a moral dilemma that cannot but be taken into consideration. Authorizing doctors to actively apply euthanasia on infants — rather than allowing nature to take its course — does cross a line once thought untouchable.

The college even goes as far as extending MAiD to include "mature minors" or teenagers aged 14 to 17, as well as euthanasia for elderly people who are simply "tired of living."

When the debate is solely about personal "autonomy," or the right to decide what to do with your own life, there should be limits to how far MAiD is authorized, and it is about time for Canada to hit the brakes.

  • Canada
  • MAiD

Most Read

Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sunday, September 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (AP)

Tucker Carlson: Israeli officers gave orders on Iran inside Pentagon

  • Politics
  • 2 Oct 2025
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

  • Politics
  • 3 Oct 2025
Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder revealed

Mossad’s secret role in Aldo Moro’s 1978 murder exposed

  • Politics
  • 5 Oct 2025
The Palestinian resistance and the people of Gaza showed that after combating Israeli aggression for two years, they remain victorious in the face of oppression (Mahdi Rteil/Al Mayadeen English)

Al-Aqsa Flood two years on, a tale of victory

  • Politics
  • 6 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
An Israeli armored vehicle moves on a street of a local market during a military raid in the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, Wednesday, October 8, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Israeli settlers kill Palestinian youth near Ramallah amid raids

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaks during the Moscow format consultations on Afghanistan in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Iran interested in resuming nuclear talks: Lavrov

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva speaks during a news conference at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headquarters in Washington, April 25, 2025 (AP)
Politics

IMF head flags US budget, Europe Defense spending challenges

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025, at UN headquarters (AP)
Politics

Meloni faces ICC complaint over Gaza genocide complicity with Israelis

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS