MAiD - The Reason WHY I Write
The real reason I speak about MAiD
"We can no longer afford to keep thousands of people alive as human vegetables, and the AIDS question will bring this into stronger focus. "Seguin's words illuminate the profound danger inherent in euthanasia policies—they quickly transform from compassionate acts into economically driven decisions about who deserves to live or die. “Marilynne Seguin, then Executive Director of DWD.
This is my why.
As a 19-year-old artillery gunner deployed to Afghanistan, I was very quickly sent into the brutal and unrelenting realities of war. The deafening explosions, the constant threat of imminent death, and the devastating loss of fellow soldiers left scars far deeper than any physical wound. One particular moment remains etched vividly in my memory—the first time I witnessed the death of a friend in combat. The intensity of that experience followed me home to Canada, overshadowing any sense of relief at having survived. I was diagnosed with severe post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury, hearing loss, and major depressive disorder (MDD). I was told I would never be a productive part of society again, I would never be healthy and it would have been easier if I had died.
Conventional mental health treatments felt profoundly inadequate, leaving me numb, isolated, and utterly disconnected from my humanity. At my darkest moments, thoughts of suicide seemed like the only viable escape from relentless psychological torment.
Feeling abandoned by traditional medical approaches, I embarked on a journey toward healing through unconventional therapies. It was during this critical juncture that I discovered alternative treatments such as psychedelic plant medicines—ayahuasca and psilocybin. Despite skepticism and resistance from mainstream medicine, these treatments offered me a lifeline. They provided a safe, profound space in which I could confront traumatic memories directly, allowing me to process my pain in ways conventional therapy had failed to achieve. This transformative experience rekindled my will to live, reconnecting me with emotions I had long suppressed. My newfound hope propelled me into passionate advocacy against Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) program, specifically its alarming expansion into mental health cases.
I am deeply disturbed by the growing trend in which vulnerable individuals, especially veterans, are increasingly offered euthanasia as a solution rather than comprehensive mental health support. I have personally witnessed cases where veterans, reaching out in desperation, were met not with hope or healing, but with suggestions of medically assisted death. Such disturbing responses send an insidious message—that certain lives are expendable, not worthy of effort or investment. This mindset is morally reprehensible and indicative of a severe societal failure. Each individual deserves genuine support, compassionate care, and treatments that honor their inherent dignity and immense potential for recovery. The idea of prematurely ending a life due to convenience or economic factors must be firmly rejected.
My conversations with influential figures such as Dr. Jordan B. Peterson have brought into sharp focus the deep ethical problems associated with normalizing assisted suicide, particularly among vulnerable populations experiencing profound psychological pain. These discussions underscored my conviction that Canada's expanding MAiD policies signal a troubling moral shift—a prioritization of convenience, cost-saving measures, and ease over genuine human compassion and dignity. Similarly, my dialogues on platforms like "Triggernometry" and "The Winston Marshall Show" highlighted my concerns about societal pressures potentially influencing those struggling with mental illness to view death as not just acceptable but preferable. These conversations illuminated the inherent risks of a society increasingly comfortable with assisted dying as an easy way out.
These dangers are not merely hypothetical. Consider the troubling historical origins of organizations like Dying With Dignity (DWD). In 1987, Marilynne Seguin, then Executive Director of DWD in Toronto, bluntly acknowledged, "the bottom line is economic." Seguin openly argued that society could no longer afford to sustain the lives of certain populations, specifically highlighting the financial strain of caring for people with AIDS. Her chilling statement serves as a stark reminder of the slippery slope euthanasia can present, shifting rapidly from individual choice to economic calculation and population control:
