Paul Tuns: On Jan. 6, Margaret Marsilla, shared a post on her Facebook account mourning the euthanasia death of her 26-year-old son Kinao Vafaiean on Dec. 30. Marsilla wrote on Facebook: “Four years ago, here in Ontario, we were able to stop his euthanasia and get him some help. He was alive because people stepped in when he was vulnerable and not [...]
Tamara Jansen, Special to The Interim: Unless this Parliament chooses a different path, Canada will allow MAiD for people whose only condition is mental illness. That means men and women struggling with depression, trauma or overwhelming psychological pain could be steered toward death by a system that too often cannot offer timely treatment, consistent follow-up or even basic support. This is why I [...]
Paul Tuns: Andrew Lawton stands up to speak in the Chambre during Question Period. © HOC-CDCCredit: Bernard Thibodeau, House of Commons Photo Services On Dec. 5, the House of Commons debated C-218, Tamara Jansen’s private member’s bill that would put an end to the planned March 2027 expansion of euthanasia to people suffering solely from mental illness. C-218, An Act [...]
Mary Zwicker: The citizens of a European country have halted the advancement of euthanasia legislation in a recent referendum. On Nov. 23, Slovenian citizens rejected a pro-euthanasia bill through a binding referendum that banned their government from revisiting the topic for another 12 months. Following the pro-life victory, conservative politician, activist, and primary leader of the referendum campaign, Aleš Primc, declared that [...]
Paul Tuns: Health Canada released its Sixth Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada on Nov. 28, providing data regarding Canada’s euthanasia and assisted-suicide regime in 2024, the most recent year for which there is completed data. According to the report, 16,499 Canadians were killed by euthanasia, an increase of seven per cent compared to 2023 when there were 15,427 [...]
Rory Leishman: The United States Declaration of Independence famously asserts: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” As originally understood in 1776, the phrase “all Men” in this context referred to all humans. In [...]
Paul Tuns: In October, Quebec Premier François Legault and Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette introduced Bill 1, a proposed constitution for the province which would constitutionally guarantee access to abortion and euthanasia. The bill, if passed, “enacts the Constitution of Québec, the Act respecting the constitutional autonomy of Québec and the Act respecting the Conseil constitutionnel,” and it would have “primacy over any [...]
Paul Tuns The CBC and Sudbury Star reported that Cleo Gratton, 84, was approved for Medical Assistance in Dying after he received terrible medical care at Health Sciences North in Sudbury. Gratton told family that after receiving poor care caused by “hallway healthcare” at the Sudbury hospital, he would rather die than go back to Health Sciences North. His daughter, Lynn, told [...]
Paul Tuns: On Oct. 30, Quebec’s 2024-2025 Report on the Commission of End-of-Life Care was released, revealing that 1 in 15 deaths in the province is through Medical Assistance in Dying. “The Commission notes that MAiD is in increasing demand and occupies an important place in the public sphere in Quebec,” the report states. The report covers April 1, 2024 to March [...]
Canadians divided on abortion, euthanasia, not so much on divorce, contraception Paul Tuns: On Oct. 16, Research Co. released the results of their online poll on what behaviours Canadians find morally acceptable from abortion and euthanasia to marital affairs and gambling. With the exception of pedophilia, there was significant support for most immoral behaviours and majority support for many of them. While [...]
Josie Luetke: Last month, I shared how Campaign Life Coalition, with the help of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, is legally challenging the rules barring abortion victim photography or any “signs or banners that display explicit graphic violence or blood” on Parliament Hill. Our hearing date, originally scheduled for Oct. 2, has been postponed, but since I last wrote, the respondents, [...]
From the editor’s desk: From the editor's desk On pages 14 and 15 of this issue we have book reviews of three giants of mid-20th century conservatism: William F. Buckley, Frank S. Meyer, and James Burnham. All three were at the founding of National Review, a magazine that has shaped U.S. conservatism since its founding 70 Novembers ago in 1955. [...]
Interim Staff: On Oct. 16, the Uruguay Senate passed a euthanasia law which permits a medical professional to kill an adult patient but does not permit assisted suicide in which a patient self-administers a lethal dose of a deadly medication. The vote was carried 31-20, supported by the governing left-wing coalition government of President Yamandú Orsi. The South American country lower house, [...]
Paul Tuns: Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, estimates that in 2024 there were “about 16,500” euthanasia deaths, bringing the total to 76,800 since Medical Assistance in Dying was legalized in 2016. With numbers steadily increasing each year, Schadenberg estimates that about 90,000 patients have been euthanized when you include this year’s numbers which will not be available until [...]
Paul Tuns: Inclusion Canada’s Krista Carr said she hears weekly from people with disabilities who are tentative accessing public health care because of concerns about being pressured into Medical Assistance in Dying. 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 [...]