Canadian clothing retailer La Maison Simons removed from YouTube a controversial advertisement that promoted medically assisted suicide..“It’s obviously not a commercial campaign,” said Peter Simons, Head Merchant and former CEO of Simons. “I think we sincerely believe that companies have a responsibility to participate in communities and to help build the communities that we want to live in tomorrow, and leave to our children.” .The original 3-minute film called titled All is Beauty told the story of Jennyfer Hatch, a terminally-ill British Columbia woman who chose to end her life through medical assistance in dying (MAiD) in October 2022. The advertisement does not promote Simons products at any point..“Dying in a hospital is not what’s natural. It’s not what’s soft,” a voiceover of Hatch says in the advertisement. "Even now, as I seek help to end my life, there is still so much beauty. You just have to be brave enough to see it.".The advertisement was originally posted to YouTube at the beginning of November, but was made private on Thursday, preventing anyone from viewing it. It is not known why Simons decided to hide the ad, but YouTube's terms and conditions prohibit content "promoting or glorifying suicide or self-harm.".Simons said his company wanted to "do something that has some importance, that has a deeper meaning," after the COVID-19 pandemic. .“We’ve taken the past two years to truly reflect on who we want to be as a company and have made the choice to use the privilege of our voice and platform to create something meaningful, something that is less about commerce and more about connection," Simons said..Simons said stories like Hatch's may be "uncomfortable," but said that discomfort can also lead to growth and an opportunity to "see deeper meaning and deeper beauty that we may otherwise miss.".The advertisement was created by the Toronto-based company Broken Heart Love Affair. Craig McIntosh, the company's chief creative officer, said the project was "unlike anything we have done before.".“Peter [Simons] was adamant their message would have a broader impact and could transform the way people approach their life. He wants Simons to be a catalyst for change, more than simply a retailer," McIntosh said..MAiD was first made legal in Canada in 2016. Assisted suicides in Canada have spiked since the bill's passage, 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..Beginning in March 2023, Canada's MAiD law will be expanded to include Canadians whose only condition is suffering from a mental illness. .People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier told the Western Standard that Simon's advertisement is "disgusting." Bernier said he is concerned that suicide is being turned into a "marketing trick by big corporations to sell clothing.".READ MORE: 'A culture of death' Bernier wants more restrictions on Canada's medically-assisted dying laws.Bernier said he voted in favour of the MAiD bill in 2016 because he was of the understanding that it would be "very restrictive" and only for cases where death was reasonably foreseeable. He said this is no longer the case.."We're promoting death, and that's what I'm concerned about," Bernier said. He added that the messaging around medically assisted suicide could push Canadians suffering from mental illness towards suicide.."That's why politically, we need to review that legislation to change the criteria for that to be only at the end of life."
