The recent case of Amir Farsoud has shocked Canada and the world, leading many Canadians to start questioning the regime of assisted dying that has emerged over the past decade. Farsoud is a disabled 54-year old who has been approved for MAID by his GP. He applied for MAID because is about to be made homeless and has no money. He needs just one more doctor’s signature and then he can be killed in 90 days time. In a disturbing interview with Toronto-based City News last month, he says: ‘I don’t want to die. But I don’t want to be homeless more than I don’t want to die.’
After the news report on Farsoud went viral, many have taken to Twitter to accuse Canada of ‘quite literally killing off poor people’. Even the head of Dying with Dignity Canada – a leading advocate of euthanasia – has been forced to say that the case shames the nation.
This horrific case is no anomaly in Canada. It is a product of the seemingly unstoppable expansion of the MAID programme. Euthanasia was first legalised in 2016, and was initially only available to terminally ill adults or people whose deaths are ‘reasonably forseeable’ (in practice, this can mean having a few years left to live). In 2019, two per cent of all deaths in Canada were through MAID that year. In 2020, this rose to 2.5 per cent of all deaths, and by 2021, MAID was responsible for 3.3 per cent of all Canadian deaths. Further rises are expected this year, as eligibility for MAID was expanded in 2021 to people whose death is not ‘reasonably forseeable’. Simply having a disability or suffering physical pain is now enough to access MAID. According to City News, this is why Farsoud, who suffers from back pain, likely qualifies. And in March 2023, euthanasia will be made available to those suffering only from mental-health conditions.
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