Canada's Euthanasia Law was no Slippery Slope; it was a Cliff

By Alex Schadenberg, 

An article by Yuan Yi Zhu, a Canadian academic [pictured right], that was published as a Special to the National Post on February 18, 2025 explains that 10 years after the Supreme Court of Canada Carter decision (that legalized assisted death in Canada) that Canada's MAiD law was not a slippery slope; it was a cliff. 

February marks the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General), in which the court unanimously ruled, against both basic logic and its own precedents, that the right to life, guaranteed by the Constitution, included the right to a state-assisted suicide through what came to be known euphemistically as “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAiD).

At the time, the court dismissed evidence from other jurisdictions that the legalization of euthanasia inevitably led to its open-ended expansion as well as abuse against the vulnerable. Belgium’s disastrous euthanasia experiment, which saw children and people with psychiatric disorders dying at the hands of doctors, was, the court said, the “product of a very different medico-legal culture…. We should not lightly assume that the regulatory regime will function defectively, nor should we assume that other criminal sanctions against the taking of lives will prove impotent against abuse.” There would be no slippery slope, the court promised us.

Leader of Canada’s Trucker Protests Gets 3 Months House Arrest

The Associated Press, February 19, 2025, 1:54 PM  

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — One of the most prominent figures from Canada’s trucker protests against COVID-19 restrictions in 2022 was sentenced to three months of house arrest on Wednesday.

Pat King, 47, [pictured right] was found guilty in November of five criminal charges including mischief and disobeying a court order. He faced up to 10 years in prison.

In its ruling Wednesday, an Ontario Superior Court judge gave King nine months credit for time already spent in custody before and during his trial. On top of the house arrest, he will have to complete 100 hours of community service at a food bank or men’s shelter.

Two other organizers, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, are awaiting the outcomes of their trials.

The February 2022 protests, dubbed the Freedom Convoy, were sparked by a Canadian government vaccine mandate for truck drivers crossing the U.S.-Canada border.

‘They Stole His Practice’: Medical Board Drops Case Against Canadian Doctor Who Questioned COVID Vaccines

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/medical-board-drops-case-canadian-doctor-covid-vaccines/?utm_id=202502

By Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.

February 18, 2025 

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (CPSBC) earlier this month withdrew its case against a Canadian doctor who faced misconduct allegations over social media posts questioning the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and promoting ivermectin.

The charges against Dr. Charles Hoffe of Lytton, British Columbia [pictured here], an emergency room doctor with over 30 years of experience, had been lingering since 2022.

On Feb. 5, the CPSBC informed Hoffe’s attorney, Lee Turner, that it was withdrawing its disciplinary proceedings. According to The Epoch Times, CPSBC said the process had dragged on too long. According to Castanet Kamloops, CPSBC said the circumstances around Hoffe’s citation “materially changed.”

Canada's Experience With Assisted Suicide & Euthanasia

The full article can be viewed here:  https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/02/13/new-hampshire-is-debating-legalized-assisted-suicide-heres-how-its-worked-out-elsewhere/   

Quebec became the first Canadian province to legalize assisted suicide in 2014. Since then, however, the Canadian Supreme Court has ruled it legal for all Canadians.

After multiple expansions, Canadian law includes some of the world’s most permissive policies on assisted suicide. Since 2021, a patient does not have to be terminally ill to receive the drugs in Canada, but rather may be experiencing a long and complicated condition – including disability alone – that impacts their quality of life. The law there also allows a provider to directly administer the drugs rather than require the patient self-administer. (When a provider administers the drug, it’s called euthanasia.) Some opponents have called these expansions part of a so-called slippery slope.

The practice has exploded there. Assisted dying now represents roughly 1 in 20 Canadian deaths, according to an annual report released in December by Health Canada with data from 2023, the most recent available. That’s 15,300 deaths, or 4.7% of deaths in the country. Most – roughly 96% – had a terminal illness, but a small minority – around 4% – fit into the category of illness with a natural death not “reasonably foreseeable.” The median age was 77.7.

In recent years, Canada’s assisted-suicide policies have garnered criticism for disproportionately being used by the poor and disabled.