The latest public data has left an anti-euthanasia advocate believing the all-time Canadian assisted-death total has surpassed 60,000.The Eighth Annual Report of the Quebec Commission on End-of-Life Care indicated there were 5,211 reported euthanasia deaths from April 1 2022 to March 31 2023, up from 3,663 in the previous year. This brings the all-time total of reported euthanasia deaths to 15,997 in Quebec.This 42% increase in Québec euthanasia deaths in 2023 meant it comprised 6.8% of all deaths in the province. The report also indicates that from April 1 to June 30, 2023 the number of reported Quebec euthanasia deaths increased by another 24%.The findings were reported in a blog post by Euthanasia Prevention Coalition executive director Alex Schadenberg. He said it was "shocking" that in the past year, 15% of Quebecers who received euthanasia were not terminally ill and that Quebec led the world in its percentage of medically-assisted deaths."Based on euthanasia data from Quebec, Ontario and Alberta, I predict that there were approximately 16,000 Canadian euthanasia deaths in 2023 and more than 60,000 euthanasia deaths since legalization. There were 13,241 Canadian euthanasia deaths in 2022," wrote Schadenberg, accounting for 4.1% of the national total.Schadenberg laid out more provincial totals to make his case.The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario reported in December there were 4,641 reported euthanasia deaths in 2023, up 18% from 3,934 the previous year. The all-time total for the province is 18,370 euthanasia deaths and three assisted suicide deaths.Euthanasia is done by a doctor or nurse injecting a person, usually upon request, with a lethal poison cocktail. Assisted suicide is done by a doctor or nurse prescribing a person, usually upon request, a lethal poison cocktail that the person would take themselves.According to the Ontario data, of the 4,641 reported euthanasia deaths in 2023, 116 were people who were not terminally ill, 28 of the deaths were followed by organ donation and the final consent was waived in 191 deaths. This happens when a person becomes incompetent.Alberta Health Services data reported 977 assisted deaths in 2023, up 18% from 836 reported assisted deaths in 2022, more than the 594 in 2021. In all, 3,914 Albertans have received MAiD since legalization in June 2016.Canada was scheduled to offer euthanasia for mental illness alone on March 1 2024, but federal Health Minister Mark Holland introduced a bill to delay the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness until March 2027."We hope that this is the first sign of a government that will stop the expansion of euthanasia in Canada," Schadenberg wrote. The EPC executive director said "Euthanasia is out of control in Canada," and cited some headlines from last year to back his case.In December, a BC cancer patient died by euthanasia after BC Cancer couldn't provide him chemotherapyIn October, Bill C-314, to prevent euthanasia for mental illness was defeated. Also in October, Health Canada reported that 13,241 assisted deaths in 2022 representing 4.1% of all deaths.In August, a Vancouver woman was offered euthanasia as a "treatment" during a mental health crisis.In July a Canadian military veteran slammed the Canadian government for the euthanasia deaths of veterans with PTSD.In June a Canadian quadriplegic woman was approved for euthanasia as she waited for approval for disability benefits to enable her to live. Also in June, Dying with Dignity launched a campaign to force a Catholic hospital in BC to provide euthanasia. By December, the BC government expropriated property from the Catholic hospital to build a MAiD facility next to the Catholic hospital.In May it came to light that a Québec funeral home was offering euthanasiaIn February, Canada's Special Joint Committee on Medical Aid in Dying issued a report calling on parliament to extend euthanasia to "mature minors" and by advanced directive. This would leave Canadian children able to be euthanized with or without parental consentIn January a Vancouver doctor euthanized a man who was deemed to be incapable of consenting.In January 2023, the EPC reported on Tyler Dunlop who was homeless and seeking death by euthanasia. In December, he published a book Therefore Choose Life - My Journey from Hopelessness to Hope which can be ordered from the EPC.
