MAiD in Canada
@maidincanada.bsky.social
maidincanada.substack.com/ We are committed to providing accurate, fact-based information about Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada. We are also dedicated to respectfully challenging misinformation and disinformation wherever it arises.
Kiano Vafaeian's story has been told almost exclusively through the lens of media, vocal opposition to MAiD, and family. People cannot fully claim to be honoring him while omitting his account of his life and suffering. Today we share his story, recorded, in his own words.
The missing voice in a very public story
Kiano Vafaeian’s lived experience in his own words
maidincanada.substack.com
Has anybody heard Marcus Powlowski condemn the mistreatment at Waypoint Centre? Or does protection of individuals with mental illness only count when trying to justify limiting access to MAiD? www.thestar.com/news/investi...
Her son was 'caged' for 5 years. Video of his life in isolation at this Ontario hospital left her 'absolutely, completely horrified'
Jake Gordon is being released from seclusion at Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. His mom credits the Star's investigation for the change.
thestar.com
Check out Alberta government restricting access to MAiD saying concerned for people making decisions due to lack of services AND reducing funding for disability supports and services. #hypocrites
James McLeod@jamespmcleod.ca · 6d agoIt strikes me that a lot of the people who are least likely to support better funding for social programs that help vulnerable individuals are also the people who are most appalled about the idea of somebody choosing to end their own life through medical assistance in dying.
ca.news.yahoo.com/lawyer-react...
Lawyer reacts to client's denied motion to apply for MAID for mental illness
An Ontario judge denied an emergency motion that would have allowed Claire Brosseau, who suffers solely from mental illness, to apply for a medically assisted death. But the judge insisted the Attorne...
ca.news.yahoo.com
In the coming months, you are going to be hearing a lot about MAiD and mental illness. So before the next round of headlines, court decisions and parliamentary arguments, we wanted to explain how Canada actually got here — and what the real legal and medical questions are.
MAiD and Mental Illness: How We Got Here, and What Canada Still Has to Decide
You are going to be hearing a lot about MAiD and mental illness over the coming months.
maidincanada.substack.com
Today’s decision did NOT uphold Canada’s exclusion of people with mental disorders from MAiD. The court denied Brosseau an individual exemption while her challenge proceeds. The judge has now ordered that challenge to move forward. Canada will finally have to defend the mental illness exclusion.
What Today’s MAiD Court Decision Actually Means
Canada Will Finally Have to Defend Its Mental Illness Exclusion
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What songs would be on your final playlist? After reading musician Jill Barber’s beautiful account of music and MAiD, I started thinking about the music I’ve heard during MAiD provisions, including one song from the very first provision I ever supported that has stayed with me ever since. - Kim
MAiD and Music
A recent Substack article by musician Jill Barber about her experience with MAiD got me thinking about the importance of music in the final moments of life.
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“Spiritual supervisors” should not be allowed to dictate publicly funded health care. If someone wants spiritual support or guidance, they should be able to invite them to be part of their care team. That support should be available to everyone who wants it—but it should never be imposed on anyone.
After 120 years of serving Antigonish, Sisters of St. Martha remove their name from its hospital
The decision to relinquish their role as being the spiritual supervisors of what was Nova Scotia's only remaining Catholic hospital, came after long consideration of their ageing of their members and ...
saltwire.com
Looking for a good place to start understanding MAiD in Canada? George S. Takach’s new The Book of MAiD brings together the information, questions, and conversations that matter most in a remarkably accessible way. We highly recommend it.
A New Book About MAiD We Think You Should Read
A new book about MAiD has just been released, and we think it’s going to be an important one.
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We need some help! We’re looking for 30–40 volunteers to test our first free, interactive MAiD education course before we launch it publicly. About 30–45 minutes + a short feedback survey. No MAiD expertise required — we actually want a mix of knowledge levels. Interested?
Help us test our new MAiD education course
We’re looking for 30–40 volunteers to help us test the first of what we hope will become a series of free public MAiD education courses.
maidincanada.substack.com
There’s still time to Ask Us Anything about MAiD in Canada. We’ve received a lot of great questions already, but there’s still time to send yours in. In early September, we’ll be recording a video and publishing a Substack post answering your questions about Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada.
September Ask Us Anything — Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada
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"We stand with the community and work for equity, inclusion and human rights. It is within this context that it is important to clarify that disability communities do not speak with one voice on MAiD." An important point worth remembering.
System reform matters. But MAiD eligibility should not depend on it - Healthy Debate
healthydebate.ca
A conspiracy theory linking medical assistance in dying, white Canadians, and immigration has moved from the fringes of online discussion to one of the world’s largest political platforms. Read our analysis of how this disturbing argument against MAiD was presented on The Tucker Carlson Show.
The MAiD Great Replacement Theory Goes Mainstream
How demographic statistics about assisted dying became evidence for a racist conspiracy theory
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We are giving our readers a chance to ask us anything about MAiD, palliative care, or how we got involved in this work. We will collect the questions over the next couple weeks and create a video of us answering them. Submit questions through the link below maidincanada.substack.com/p/ask-us-any...
Ask Us Anything
We’re going to try something a little different in September: an Ask Us Anything.
maidincanada.substack.com
Dr. Zivot and his 'drowning' claim about MAiD won't go away, so we took a close look at the evidence and logic behind this claim. The evidence doesn't hold up at all (his logic doesn't fare well either). Read our latest article to learn why, and how you can respond when you hear it in the future.
From Executions to MAiD: The Weak Science Behind Dr. Zivot’s MAiD “Drowning” Claim
The Long Version
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The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition deliberately shared these MAiD disinformation posts on Facebook. This is an organization that appears before Parliament and intervenes in major court cases involving MAiD. That privilege should be forfeited. They clearly cannot be trusted in this debate.
Kelsi Sheren says she’s being demonetized, censored, and targeted because of her views on MAiD. But there’s a difference between being silenced for your views and being held accountable for the things you choose to say publicly. Sometimes, your own words provide the necessary context.
Kelsi Sheren Says She’s Being Silenced. Is It Censorship—or Accountability?
YouTube video by MAiD in Canada
youtube.com
With MAiD for mental illness continuing to make headlines, new and ongoing court cases, and the federal government still to respond to recommendations from the parliamentary AMAD committee, we thought this month was a good time to focus our quiz on MAiD and mental illness. Enjoy.
The August MAiD Quiz is Live
We missed posting the July MAiD quiz due to some personal life events getting in the way. But we’re back this month with the August Quiz. With MAiD for mental illness continuing to make headlines, n...
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Much of Tucker Carlson’s two-hour interview with Kelsi Sheren was devoted to repeating the same misleading claims about MAiD that we have heard many times before. However, a few notably different claims caught our attention—and we thought they warranted a closer look.
This Week (or so) in MAiD Misinformation - The Tucker Carlson Edition
This week in MAiD misinformation is dedicated to Tucker Carlson, who interviewed a familiar Canadian purveyor of misinformation and conspiracy theories about MAiD.
maidincanada.substack.com
A false claim can be made in seconds. Correcting it may take months. Mr. Friesen of the EPC claimed that the American Association of Suicidology denied any distinction between MAiD and suicide. Six months later, the AAS republished a statement saying precisely the opposite, and more. Our latest:
How One False Claim Took Six Months to Correct
The American Association of Suicidology republishes its statement distinguishing MAiD from suicide—and illustrates one of the greatest challenges of combating misinformation.
maidincanada.substack.com
We’ve started creating free infographics to make accurate information about MAiD easier to understand and share. Please feel free to use them in presentations, education, social media, workplaces, or anywhere else they may be helpful. Let us know if there's a topic you’d like us to cover next?
New MAiD Infographics—Free to Use and Share
We are always looking for way to make information about medical assistance in dying easier to access, understand, and share.
maidincanada.substack.com
We need your help. Alberta continues to withhold records showing how the comment sections in its MAiD survey worked. Newly released records have only strengthened our concerns that access to written comments may have depended on how respondents answered the previous question.
We Need Your Help
Alberta refuses to answer a simple question: did its MAiD survey give everyone an equal opportunity to be heard?
maidincanada.substack.com
Can a handful of deliberately selected, unusually complex MAiD cases tell us whether Canada's entire MAiD system is failing? That's the question at the centre of an exchange in BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. With permission, we republish Dr. Konia Trouton and colleagues' response.
Ontario’s MAiD Death Review Committee- avoiding misunderstandings
Committee members respond to Ramona Coelho, David Shannon, and Trudo Lemmens
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We couldn't agree more. A well-earned "Secrecy Award" for the Alberta government. We've published some of the Alberta MAiD survey results through a FOI request, but much of what we requested—including responses to survey questions—continues to be redacted or withheld, despite multiple challenges.
Alberta government receives secrecy award over access-to-information process
Alberta’s provincial government has been named the provincial winner of the 2025 Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievement in Government Secrecy. The award was announced by the Canadian Associ...
swiftcurrentonline.com
"'MAiD access for patients with mental illness will be a government decision,' Carney says." So decision will be to tell them no access to MAiD - instead they can die by suicide by using illegal narcotics like fentanyl??? That's what the "Supplemental Opinion of the Liberal Party of Canada" says...
The Globe and Mail published our letter in response to Dr. Coelho calling for the government to further restrict and regulate MAiD. (The full text of our letter is reproduced at the end of our post.) The Globe limits letters to 150 words. Here, we expanded on the reasoning behind our response.
Medical Ethics Should Not Disappear When MAiD Is Involved
The Globe and Mail published our letter responding to Dr. Ramona Coelho’s piece calling for the government to take further steps to restrict and regulate MAiD.
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The truth will prevail, eventually. Kelsi Sheren is now explicitly stating that "it's not mandatory to provide your organs." Misinformation about MAiD can be corrected, but there is still work to be done. You can support this work by getting a free subscription to our Substack feed.
MAiD in Canada (@maidincanada3)
The truth will prevail, eventually. Followed the CTV/AFP fact-check of Kelsi Sheren's false claim that organ donation is mandatory in order to be approved for MAiD, we examined her attempts to back a...
substack.com
One thing that has really stood out to us recently is how often people assume that providing accurate information is the same thing as trying to persuade someone. It isn't. We wrote a few thoughts about that and advance requests here: maidincanada.substack.com/p/were-not-t...
We’re Not Trying to Persuade Anyone
But people are looking for information—particularly about advance requests
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Religious perspectives on MAiD aren't monolithic. The Anglican Church of Canada has published trial liturgies for those choosing MAiD, recognizing that pastoral care doesn't end because someone makes a difficult end-of-life decision. A thoughtful and compassionate approach acl.asn.au/the-anglican...
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has urged the federal government to reject the indefinite exclusion of MAiD for mental illness. Their statement is the type of nuanced and thoughtful stance that was largely absent from the parliamentary committee's deliberations.
Canadian Civil Liberties Association Urges Federal Government to Reject Indefinite Exclusion of MAiD for Mental Illness - CCLA
The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) has filed its intervention factum in Saskatchewan v. UR Pride Centre for Sexuality and Gender Diversity – the first Supreme Court of Canada case to dire...
ccla.org