Today is Armistice Day, when we remember those who served. At 11 am on 11 November 1918, hostilities ceased on the Western Front, ending the fighting of the First World War. Across the country, various communities gather at local war memorials today to pause, lay wreaths and honour those who fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy today. But remembering the fallen is only part of the debt we owe. It also means asking how we treat those who came home, including those carrying the invisible wounds of service. That question is at the centre of a troubling story emerging from Canada.
A Daily Mail investigation published on November 8th reports that Canadian veterans with serious injuries or PTSD say they were offered MAID when they asked for help to live. Former soldier David Baltzer, who served two tours in Afghanistan, says that after his benefits were cut, a Veterans Affairs caseworker asked whether he’d considered MAID. He says it left him feeling his life was worthless. Tony Jenkins, a 25-year veteran with a brain injury, says that when he called a health line over a prescription mix-up, the response was to start arranging an assisted death rather than fix the prescription. A pharmacy visit sorted it the next day. Corben McGown was 22 when he says a caseworker presented MAID as something he qualified for. “I was looking for help – not to die,” he said.
Veterans Affairs Canada says one employee raised MAID with four veterans, and its investigation could not verify other alleged cases. The department introduced mandatory training and a clear rule that staff must never raise MAID. Critics, however, disagree: one veteran told MPs she had evidence that an employee raised MAID with four defendants in more than 20 cases. The true scale remains disputed, but even one case is too many. How could a caseworker at a department dedicated to supporting veterans come to suggest that assisted suicide was the answer?
The concern is what happens when assisted suicide is treated as just another healthcare service. MAID accounted for 5.1 percent of all deaths in Canada in 2024. For people in pain and hardship, the line between offering an option and applying pressure can become unclear. Lawyer Catherine Christensen, who represents veterans, warns that they are an especially vulnerable group, trained to put mission and family first, so that the idea of sacrificing themselves for their loved ones can take hold.
Canada has also reversed course on mental illness being added to the MAID eligibility criteria, and the government says it will indefinitely exclude them, instead of proceeding with the expansion planned for March 2027, in line with a joint parliamentary committee’s recommendation. That suggests some conditions call for treatment and support, not an offer of death.
The Canadian experience raises a question we should keep asking here in New Zealand: do the safeguards work in practice as well as on paper? Official documents obtained by Voice for Life, an organisation opposed to euthanasia, show that in March 2024 a doctor carried out euthanasia without the legally required Registrar review, using expired drugs prescribed for another patient. Health NZ has since introduced new digital controls, but the case shows how a safeguard can be bypassed. With the election just held, any push to expand the End of Life Choice Act, including the removal of safeguards, needs close scrutiny.
Sources: Right To Life UK
