Canada is under fire once again as host of the world’s most permissive assisted suicide program, where millions of people now say the homeless and poor should be eligible for state-sanctioned deaths.
A survey released this month found that more than a quarter of Canadians say being impoverished or unhoused is a good enough reason for a doctor to inject somebody with a deadly cocktail of drugs.
Even larger numbers of respondents said assisted suicide — or Medical Aid in Dying (MAID), as it is known — should be available to those with disabilities, mental illnesses or who cannot receive medical treatment.
For some, the poll of 1,000 adults shows that Canada has careened into a euthanasia free-for-all since it legalized procedures in 2016. More than 10,000 people end their lives under the scheme each year.
‘One third of Canadians are fine with prescribing assisted suicide for homelessness. Shameful,’ Lord David Alton, a British peer, tweeted on Wednesday.