OTTAWA — The leadership of Canada’s largest pro-life group responsible for organizing the annual March for Life warned Wednesday the country’s euthanasia regime is calling on politicians to halt future eligibility expansion which is set to include mental illness.At a press conference on Parliament Hill ahead of Thursday’s march, representatives from Campaign Life Coalition argued Canada has moved from permitting euthanasia in exceptional cases to what they described as a broader culture of “killing as a solution to suffering.”“Nowadays, 100,000 preborn human beings are killed every year in Canada, which, poetically, is approximately how many human beings have been killed since euthanasia was legalized in 2016,” said Josie Luetke, the organization’s director of education. Luetke linked abortion and euthanasia together in her remarks, arguing that legalizing abortion decades ago weakened broader protections surrounding human life.“If you undermine human dignity at the beginning of life, you undermine human dignity at the end of life and for everyone in between,” she said. Campaign Life Coalition political operations director Jack Fonseca spoke on the scheduled 2027 expansion of euthanasia eligibility to individuals suffering solely from mental illness.“The next euthanasia time bomb is set to explode on March 17, 2027,” Fonseca said. .Fonseca urged MPs from all parties to support Conservative MP Tamara Jansen’s Bill C-218, which would block euthanasia eligibility for mental illness cases.The group also praised Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Alberta’s recently passed Bill 18, which organizers say places stricter limits on euthanasia access in the province.Fonseca suggested other conservative-led provinces should follow Alberta’s approach.“Danielle Smith is protecting Albertans from being poisoned to death,” he said. “Doug Ford should do the same.” The Western Standard asked organizers whether they believed the broader conservative movement had lost ground politically on issues such as abortion and euthanasia, particularly given Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s pro-choice position.Fonseca acknowledged Poilievre is “pro-abortion,” but argued there remains a significant socially conservative presence inside the Conservative caucus.“There are a great number of pro-life members of Parliament within the Conservative caucus,” he said. “We want to grow those numbers.” He also criticized former Conservative MP Marilyn Gladu for crossing the floor to join the Liberals after previously speaking at the March for Life.“That was disappointing,” Fonseca said. In regards to lobbying priorities, Fonseca said Campaign Life Coalition plans to pressure conservative provincial governments, particularly in Ontario and Saskatchewan, to adopt measures similar to Alberta’s.The organization’s annual March for Life is scheduled for Thursday on Parliament Hill.
