The lawyer behind the lawsuit against the feds for offering MAiD to their veterans instead of proper medical treatment says the class-action suit already has more than a dozen veterans taking part.Alberta lawyer and owner of Valour Law Catherine Christensen told the Western Standard the upcoming lawsuit already has 20 veterans involved in the case, and she expects to file it in the next six months.Christensen says the Daily Mail story, which featured multiple accounts from veterans who were suffering from mental health issues and reached out to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) for help, and were offered MAiD instead, has inspired even more veterans to reach out, saying they experienced the same thing.Christensen says she's still in the process of taking in all the veterans that have come forward, but many have said they've been offered MAiD not just verbally but in writing..'HELP OFFERED IS DEATH': Class action lawsuit coming against feds over MAiD offers to veterans."I've also recently heard from [a] veteran who said that he was offered MAiD 13 times," Christensen recalled.Christensen added that many of the veterans offered MAiD were also afraid to come forward for fear that doing so would cause their veterans' benefits to be cut off."I've been looking for veterans for this class action for a couple of years, and the main reason why many didn't want to come forward is they were afraid they would lose their benefits if they exposed [being offered MAiD]," Christensen stated.She said she has even heard of currently serving military members being offered MAiD..Christensen claims some serving members were told if they accepted the offer of euthanasia, "they would receive a full military funeral as if they died a combat death, and that their wives and children would be looked after.""You take a soldier who is trained to be 'mission, men, self,' who's spiraling mentally with his mental health, and his bills are adding up.""He's between a rock and a hard place, and he realizes that he's worth more dead than alive to his family.""It's not beyond the possibility that a veteran would sacrifice himself for what he thinks would be the betterment of his family without him.".This mirrors one of the cases described in the Daily Mail article, when David Baltzer, a physically healthy Manitoba man in his 30s, was offered euthanasia by a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) caseworker.Baltzer, a former soldier who served two tours in Afghanistan, had been receiving psychological treatment for PTSD and suicidal thoughts.He relied on veterans' benefits to make ends meet because he had struggled to reintegrate into civilian life, so he was shocked when he received a letter informing him those same benefits were being cut off.After calling VAC, he was referred to a different number..The caseworker on the new line reviewed his file and then suggested Baltzer consider another option."He looked at my file and said, 'I can see the therapy you've done. It doesn't seem like much has helped. I'd like you to keep an open mind and think about this,'" Baltzer stated."Have you ever given any thought to medical assistance in dying?" the caseworker asked him.For Baltzer, the suggestion of assisted suicide came at a particularly vulnerable point in his life when he was having a hard time adjusting to normal life again and had been assigned multiple therapists through VAC..He said that the conversation, which occurred in 2019, sent him into a downward spiral."The last six years have been a gong show. I went off the rails pretty hard. I ruined a lot of stuff in my life. I just burned it all to the ground."The suggestion that his life was not worth living, made by those meant to help him, took a severe toll on his self-worth.Eventually, Baltzer made an appeal to have his veterans' benefits reinstated, even bringing up the MAiD suggestion with a pension advocate.."I said, 'You didn't help me at all, and in fact, you offered me medically assisted suicide.' And it just went blank. No one said anything. It just got swept under the rug."The experience left him feeling betrayed by an institution he had once been proud to be a part of."I was a stand-up, moral, law-abiding citizen and prided myself on that for a very long time. And then I realised all I'm doing is fighting the system constantly after I honourably served them.""A dead veteran costs less than a live one," Christensen pointed out on why MAiD would be offered to healthy veterans. .She cites another case in the Daily Mail story, of Corben McGowan, a veteran who was 22 at the time he was offered euthanasia by a VAC caseworker.McGowan had been struggling with PTSD, depression, and anxiety, and had attempted suicide several times."When you look at someone like Corbin, who was 22 years old, they're [VAC] looking at what 50, 60 years of benefits," Christensen stated.She suggests it may be a way for VAC to save a few bucks.."I noticed that a lot of the offers are going to veterans with complex Veterans Affairs claims — so, these are guys who are more than 100% disabled. They're getting the maximum benefits.""In my opinion, it's a cost-saving measure."She adds there's another factor involved that might be incentivizing offering MAiD to veterans: "Every time I've seen the consent form for MAiD, you have to consent to do organ donation.""And our veteran population is a relatively healthy population, especially if [veterans are being offered MAiD] just for mental health.".Christensen notes that the lawsuit coming down the pipeline isn't just about the money, but "it's about making it stop.""[Veterans are] angry and they're offended that this is being done and that VAC isn't stopping on their own.""So they are asking a court to make it stop and call attention to it, and I think that's important for people to know."In 2023, after an internal investigation into allegations that Veterans Affairs Canada employees had inappropriately raised MAiD with veterans, the department confirmed four incidents involving a single caseworker.VAC confirmed the incidents were isolated and confined to the single caseworker..Christensen attests that "there's way more than four [cases], and more coming in every day."In a statement, VAC stated MAiD is not a service it provides and that employees have "no role or mandate to recommend or raise it."It added that staff are explicitly instructed not to raise or recommend MAiD "under any circumstances."
