The Canadian government’s plan to soon begin euthanizing citizens suffering from mental illness is facing a growing uprising from the public, conservative lawmakers, and concerned doctors.
The major backlash is swelling amid growing outrage over how vulnerable citizens, including veterans, are being railroaded into cheap “assisted suicide” instead of more expensive care.
A Conservative MP’s bill to stop Canada’s next planned expansion of assisted suicide is now rapidly gaining momentum, with support from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC).
During a press conference in Ottawa, the EPC warned that Canada’s euthanasia program, officially called “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAiD), has already gone far beyond its original intent.
Campaigners are arguing that it must not be expanded to people suffering from mental illness.
“Our takeaway message is this,” said Gordon Friesen, EPC president.
“No euthanasia for mental illness.”
Friesen said MAiD was initially intended for terminally ill people who “were dying” after exhausting all treatment options and could “freely choose.”
But he argued those safeguards have been eroded.
“Unfortunately, all of those promises have been broken,” Friesen said.
“What fuels support for MAiD is not that people believe that some patients should die, but because they can make free, informed, competent, and adult choices,” he added.
“Euthanasia for the mentally ill does not fit that description.
“For the symptoms of mental illness often make that sort of choice impossible.”
Veteran Exposes “Coercion” in Canada’s Euthanasia System
Among the speakers was Canadian Forces combat veteran Kelsi Sheren.
Sheren said she was pressured into “choosing” euthanasia as an “option” instead of treatment.
“I understood that I might die for my country, but what I didn’t understand was that … one day, my own government would quietly offer to help me do it,” Sheren said.
“When somebody is drowning in trauma and desperation, that’s not a choice, that’s coercion, wearing a polite face,” she continued.
“I’ve spoken with veterans who have reached out for help and asked for therapy, for hope, for treatment, and what they got instead was an offer to end their lives.”
Sheren’s testimony echoes a series of recent reports in which disabled Canadians and veterans say they were encouraged to consider MAiD instead of receiving mental health care or housing assistance.
Conservative Bill Seeks to End Expansion Plans
The legislation at the center of the debate, Bill C-218, was introduced by Conservative MP Tamara Jansen.
It has passed its first reading in Parliament and is now at the second reading stage.
The bill, formally titled An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying), would explicitly prevent the government from expanding euthanasia eligibility to those suffering solely from mental illness.
“Allowing ‘medical assistance in dying’ for those with mental illness is not healthcare, that’s not compassion, it’s abandonment,” Jansen said.
“Mental illness is treatable.
“Recovery is possible, but only if we show up and help.”
The bill states plainly:
“This enactment amends the Criminal Code to provide that a mental disorder is not a grievous and irremediable medical condition for which a person could receive medical assistance in dying.”
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre praised Jansen’s leadership on the issue, saying she is working “to protect these people and get them proper health care and treatment, not assisted suicide.”
Canada’s Expanding Euthanasia Regime
Since 2016, when euthanasia was first legalized under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, roughly 90,000 Canadians have died under the MAiD program, according to a new report from the EPC.
Originally restricted to the terminally ill, the program was expanded in 2021 through Bill C-7 to include people with chronic conditions.
The ruling Liberal Party government has since sought to extend it again, this time to people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness.
Following backlash from pro-life advocates, medical professionals, and provincial governments, the government delayed the mental illness expansion until 2027.
The government was forced to postpone the plan following a pushback from doctors who refused to euthanize patients for mental illness.
But the EPC warns that delay is not enough.
Proponents of Bill C-218 argue that making euthanasia available to those with mental illness would cross an ethical red line.
It has been transforming Canada’s health system from one meant to save lives into one that facilitates death for people in crisis.
Conveniently, Canada’s socialized healthcare system is saving tens of millions of dollars a year by euthanizing patients instead of treating them.
“No Euthanasia for Mental Illness”
Friesen said the message from Canadians is simple: Stop before it goes any further.
“No euthanasia for mental illness,” he reiterated.
“We must protect the vulnerable, not enable despair.”
Sheren’s story and the EPC’s campaign have amplified growing public concern that Canada’s euthanasia regime has spiraled out of control.
It comes as bureaucrats and health officials are now increasingly treating death as a solution to suffering.
READ MORE – Canada Moves to Begin Euthanizing Children Without Parental Consent
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