In Canada, in six years, euthanasia has gone from being illegal to being out of control

“If we kill with justifications, we will kill more and more,” Pope Francis said this week. Just ask Amir Farsood, a Canadian who lives in St. Catharines, near Niagara Falls. Farsood cannot find affordable housing because she relies on social assistance. “I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to be homeless more than I want to die,” he said. “In my current state of health, I wouldn’t be able to survive anyway“. A doctor has already signed the application for “MAiD”.

In Canada, the word “euthanasia” is rarely used. The practice is officially called “Medical Assistance in Dying” or, in its shortened and chloroform form, “MAiD.” Once a crime in law, it has become something different and progressive thanks to linguistic gymnastics. So, Farsood is now waiting for a second signature to access euthanasia. He is afraid of becoming homeless.

In 2016, Canada decriminalized euthanasia for consenting adults near death.. In 2021, a new law allowed euthanasia for adults even if they were terminally ill. This March, mentally ill people will become candidates for euthanasia unless lawmakers intervene. In just six years, Canada has gone from a total ban on euthanasia to one of the most lax euthanasia regimes in the world. The Toronto Star – Canada’s liberal newspaper – describes disabled euthanasia legislation as “Hunger Games-style social Darwinism”. In practice, this law helps the disabled, economically weaker or marginalized people to die. First Things calls it the “Canadian murderous regime.” The Globe and Mail wonders if calls for euthanasia of children have gone too far. The critic talks about “euthanasia, the last period of liberalism”.

And Canadians took advantage of the expanded eligibility criteria. In 2021 alone, more than ten thousand Canadians died by euthanasia, a 32.4 percent increase over 2020.. 36 percent cited “burden on family, friends or health care workers” as part of their decision, and 17 percent cited “loneliness or isolation.” Originally intended only for those knocking on death’s door, it is now used by little if not better. A recent idea is to extend euthanasia to disabled children. The proposal was made by the Quebec Medical College. “It’s hard to shake the feeling that Canada is headed down a path of allowing euthanasia for any reason,” notes the Vancouver Sun. The current moratorium on extending the law to those affected by Covid – and mental illness – will accelerate when it expires next March,” the National Post opined yesterday. On March 17, 2023, Canadian law will change to include people with mental disabilities.

A new law establishes a euthanasia program that is presented as a solution to the problem of population aging. It’s called “Project 75,” a film by Sei Hayakawa that was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival. At the age of 78, Michi works as a waitress in a hotel. Alone, without a family, Michi chooses “Project 75:” Humans cannot choose their birth, but it is better to choose their own death “. Young Hiromu’s task is to “sell” this project, even if stationed in canteens for the homeless, until industrial processing for cremation. Science fiction?

• Giulio Meotti
  

• Giulio Meotti has been a journalist for Il Foglio since 2003. He is the author of several books including I Stop Dancing. Untold Stories of Israel’s Martyrs (Premio Capalbio); They killed Charlie Hebdo; The End of Europe (Capri Award); Israel. The last European country; The Suicide of Western Culture; Tomb of the Gods; Notre Dame burns; The last Pope of the West? and a Europe without Jews.