Canadian Paralympian offered euthanasia when she asked for a stairlift

Thursday, December 8th, 2022

A Paralympian told lawmakers in Canada she was offered euthanasia equipment when she requested a wheelchair lift be installed in her home.

Retired Army Corporal Christine Gauthier testified before Canada’s House of Commons veterans committee last week that she was shocked when the Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee offered her assisted suicide as a solution to her suffering.

Gauthier, who competed for Canada at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, lost the use of her legs after suffering an injury during military training in 1989. She is a five-time world champion paracanoeist who also competed in this year’s Invictus Games.

Gauthier told the MPs that she has fought for wheelchair accommodation for five years, according to CBC.ca.

“I have a letter saying that if you’re so desperate, madam, we can offer you MAID, medical assistance in dying,” Gauthier said, according to the outlet. She agreed to provide a copy of the letter to the MPs, the outlet reported.

“I was like, ‘I can’t believe that you will … give me an injection to help me die, but you will not give me the tools I need to help me live,’” Gauthier said in a 2 December interview with Global News.

“It was really shocking to hear that kind of comment.”

“Absolutely unacceptable” ordeal

“I sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau to say that they [Veterans Affairs] offered me MAID and would supply equipment,” said Gauthier.

Gauthier’s ordeal is “absolutely unacceptable,” Trudeau said Friday.

“We are following up with investigations, and we are changing protocols to ensure what should seem obvious to all of us: that it is not the place of Veterans Affairs Canada, who are supposed to be there to support those people who stepped up to serve their country, to offer them medical assistance in dying,” added the prime minister.

In testimony before the same committee last week, Veterans Minister Lawrence MacAulay revealed at least four other Canadian military veterans were offered the MAID option by a now-suspended veterans service agent. The cases have been referred to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Medical assistance in dying has been legal in Canada since 2016 for terminally ill residents.

The law was expanded in 2022 to people living with debilitating disabilities or pain, even if their lives aren’t at immediate risk.