A Canadian military veteran and Paralympian testified Thursday the Department of Affairs offered her Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), after several years of her requests for a home wheelchair ramp not being met.."With respect to MAiD, I have a letter in my file because I've had to face that as well. I have a letter saying that if you're so desperate, madam, we can offer you MAiD," said retired Cpl. Christine Gauthier, who competed for Canada at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics.."They said ma'am, if it's too difficult for you to continue living, we can offer you medical aid in dying. They offered to supply equipment," she said..Gauthier, who injured her back during a training accident in 1989, told the Veterans Affairs Committee she has been trying to get a home wheelchair ramp for more than five years. She claimed to have had two "awesome" case managers, but after they retired, she has been "falling through the cracks ever since.".Gauthier did not say when the assisted death offer was made, or whether it came from a case manager or a veterans services agent. Gauthier said she wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the incident..The veteran offered to provide the committee with a copy of that letter offering MAiD..New Democrat MP Rachel Blaney (North Island-Powell River, BC), a member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said she was in "shock" over what she had just heard.."I want to thank all of your service, your commitment to your country and for coming here today," Blaney said to the veterans who just testified.."I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by what I've just heard, and I want to extend my deepest apologies. I'm in shock.".Conservative MP Fraser Tolmie (Moose Jaw Lake Centre Lanigan, AB) was also shocked to hear over the course of 24 years, not all of Gauthier's claims to the Department of Veterans Affairs have been addressed.."Well, now I'm kind of lost here because, I'm just appalled about the service delivery here," Tolmie said..Veterans Affairs Canada has said it aims to clear its disability backlogs before 2024. According to a report delivered by Auditor General Karen Hogan in June 2022, first-time claimants in 2020/21 were waiting an average of around 38 weeks..Gauthier's testimony comes as several Canadian veterans revealed they were offered medically assisted suicide. Last week, Veterans Minister Lawrence MacAulay said four or five veterans were given the MAiD option by a veterans service agent..The veterans service agent who allegedly provided the advice has been removed from her position while the RCMP investigate..Assisted suicides in Canada spiked since MAiD was first legalized in 2016, rising from 1,000 assisted suicide deaths in 2016 to more than 10,000 in 2021. One in 30 deaths in Canada now come from medically assisted suicide, according to the third annual report on MAiD in Canada..Starting March 2023, Canada's MAiD law will be expanded to include Canadians whose only condition is suffering from a mental illness. .The prime minister on Thursday addressed the incidents of MAiD being offered to veterans, claiming the employees in question no longer have contact with veterans. Trudeau also acknowledged the issue of MAiD is "deeply personal" and an "extraordinary difficult" choice that families and individuals must make.."We understand that making sure we are respecting people's rights and their choices, at the same time as we protect the most vulnerable, is a very important but challenging balance to establish," he said.
