The inevitable outcome of socialized medicine is approaching like a runaway train in Canada. A disabled veteran asked the government for a wheelchair ramp for her home. In response, she was offered a kit that would enable her to commit suicide.
Christine Gauthier, 52, is a retired corporal who is now a permanent paraplegic. She is highly active and participated in the 2016 Invictus Games and Paralympic Games. Gauthier suffered her initial back injury in 1989 during a military training exercise.
In testimony before a Canadian Parliament veterans affairs committee last week, she said that instead of responding to her request for a ramp, a caseworker offered her a Medical Assistance In Dying (MAID) kit. Her situation began five years ago when she first asked the government to assist her with the access ramp for her home.
She told the committee the offer for MAID was made to her in writing and in a rather direct manner. She said, “I have a letter saying that if you’re so desperate, madam, we can offer you MAID, medical assistance in dying.”
Retired Canadian army veteran Corporal Christine Gauthier was offered ASSISTED DEATH because she complained at how long it was taking to install a stairlift in her home.
This is Trudeau’s Canada
I feel sick .. 😞 pic.twitter.com/ViI0WdXkHU
— Janey (@_Janey_J) December 4, 2022
Gauthier said she was so upset by the response she received that she wrote directly to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
To his credit, Trudeau said the offer of a MAID kit was “absolutely unacceptable.” He added that there would be a change in protocols to clarify that “it is not the place of Veterans Affairs Canada, who are supposed to be there to support those people who stepped up to serve their country, to offer them medical assistance in dying.”
Unfortunately, Gauthier’s experience was not uncommon. Canadian Veterans Minister Lawrence MacAulay said at least four veterans have said someone from the administration offered them MAID in response to routine medical requests in the last year alone.
MacAulay said that the VA expects all government staffers to “interact with veterans with care, compassion and respect.”
He insisted that the incident was not typical, saying the action taken by “this one employee is simply disgusting.” In saying he condemned the offer of MAID to Gauthier in “the strongest terms,” he added that the Canadian VA is confident that the problem is not “widespread or systemic.”
“This is all related to one single employee,” he said.
