Dying with Dignity's chummy relationship with Health Canada continues

Dying with Dignity is way too friendly with the Department of Health, including the many Ministers of Health. Bureaucrats bend over backwards to make sure that Ministers meet with Helen Long and her pro-death organization. It's really creepy if you ask me.

In this memo below, "there is no specific topic of discussion" for this meeting request from Dying with Dignity, yet the meeting will still go ahead. DWDC just asks for a meeting with the Minister and bingo, they get it. Just like that. Nothing specific to talk about. Why does this pro-death bunch get to have the ear of the Health Minister whenever they want to? Do those opposed to MAID also get a meeting with the Minister whenever they want to? I doubt it.

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REQUESTOR’S NAME - NOM DU DEMANDEUR Barb French [of the Ministerial briefing unit]

DATE 2023-09-25

NUMBER - NUMERO 23-109024-214

REQUEST ORIGIN - ORIGINE DE LA DEMANDE

Minister's Office/Cabinet du Ministre

SUBJECT - OBJET

Minister Saks' Office Request: PS Fisher to meet Dying with Dignity Canada

REQUEST - DEMANDE (YYYY-MM-DD)

(1)Date 2023-09-25

SPB:

Minister Saks has delegated an introductory meeting with Dying with Dignity Canada to Parliamentary Secretary Fisher the week of Sept 25th. Time and date are TBC and there is no specific topic of discussion. However, should it be helpful for context, a recent meeting request (23-007471-535) is attached. When assessing the meeting request for the Minister, SPB recommended that the meeting take place with the following rationale: DWDC is a key stakeholder that supports MAID and aims to provide clear and factual information to Canadians about MAID, the legislation, the process and providing supports and resources to people who wish to know more and who wish to access MAID.

DWDC is an advocacy group and does want to see a broader MAID and end of life regime in Canada that it believes aligns with the Canadian Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In meeting with this organization, the Minister could learn about relevant ‘on the ground’ views on system and clinician preparedness for the lifting of the mental illness exclusion clause on March 17, 2024. The organization is also focussing [sic] advocacy efforts calling for the Government [to] expand legislation again to allow for advance requests for MAID. Quebec recently passed amendments to its provincial MAID legislation to put in place an advance request regime for MAID in the next 2 years (which is not in alignment with current federal law). The Minister may wish to listen to their thoughts on this kind of further expansion

Please prepare a Memo to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions [Note: This position was abolished in March 2025. Thank you Mark Carney.] for a meeting, points to register and a bio (this may include updating a recent note). Also please identify an individual to participate in a pre-brief as well as the meeting.

Kindly submit the requested materials and confirmation of participant[s] to MBU by Sept 27, at 4:00. Templates attached. Should contacts for Input from other areas of the Health Portfolio be required, kindly let us know.

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Next we have the memo to Minister Saks about this upcoming meeting. It is a nine (9) page memo. Summary of memo below:

MEMORANDUM TO THE MINISTER OF MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTIONS AND ASSOCIATE MINISTER OF HEALTH Meeting with Dying with Dignity Canada / Reunion avec Dying with Dignity Canada

SUMMARY

• Your office has accepted a request to meet with Dying with Dignity Canada (DWDC). Parliamentary Secretary Fisher will meet with Helen Long, Chief Executive Officer, DWDC during the week of September 25th.

• DWDC is a national human-rights charity committed to improving [the] quality of dying, protecting end-of-life rights, and helping people across Canada avoid unwanted suffering.

• Health Canada has had many interactions with DWDC over the past number of years. While they have been strong supporters of Government of Canada MAID policy, they have also been critical of the lack of progress in areas such advance requests.

• Points to Register are included in Appendix A and a biography of CEO Helen Long is included in Appendix B.

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You will be happy to know that DWDC's office is still located on Canada's Indigenous peoples' land. I guess that means they still haven't given said land back to the Indigenous people.

Dying With Dignity Canada's national office is located within Treaty 13, the traditional home of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. Our presence on this land is not to be taken for granted. We are grateful for the opportunity to share, meet, collaborate, live, and work on this land.

Dying with Dignity - lobbies the government a LOT

The following excerpts are from another Dying With Dignity Canada ATIP (from January 1, 2021 to August 14, 2023) I did to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). I have italicized what appears to be HC's comments in this internal email, since their red comments do not appear in the ATIP.

Internal email in ESDC.

Dying with Dignity was one of the stakeholders that was consulted and submitted comments on the MAID regulatory amendments. Most of their submission was fairly technical - i.e. commenting on the wording of specific provisions, however, I've extracted some of the general points that they raised. I’ve made a few comments in red as to our position re the comments - the ones in which I haven't included comments go beyond the scope of the regulations.

As noted in our suggestions to Health Canada in May, DWDC believes MAID reports would benefit from the inclusion of real-world context behind the data, including patients' background information (excluding their identity), their condition, and additional details concerning their decision to seek MAID; including such real- world information in Health Canada's reports could also lead to enhanced public understanding of MAID, including the various instances in which people seek to access it. It should be noted that in a January 2021 poll commissioned by DWDC and conducted by Ipsos, it was found that 37% of Canadians do not know that MAID is legal in Canada or believe that it is illegal. While HC's agree that this detail is important, we believe that it is best captured through third-party research and not by practitioners. 

• In provinces which employ more of centrally coordinated MAID system (e.g., Alberta) the collection of additional patient information is made much easier when an intake person is responsible for that function. It should be noted that there is concern however that this could lead to a disparity in data collection across the country. HC agrees that the care coordination model is an efficient way to collect data and can reduce practitioner reporting burden.

• The federal government should recognize the significant new administrative burden that will be placed on MAID clinicians if they are required to ask all of the proposed questions Based on stakeholder feedback, HC is looking at ways to reduce the number of question in order to reduce administration burden on practitioners. However, it should be recognized that there will be increased reporting burden due to Bill C7 requirements to collect data on race, Indigenous identity and disability and the enhanced procedural requirements for persons whose death is not reasonably foreseeable.

• The federal government should work with the provinces to provide reasonable administrative support through targeted funding.

• The federal government should work with the provinces on the development of a model for the fair and equitable remuneration to Nurse Practitioners who provide MAID services

• The information sought should be tied to an individual's health card so it can be readily accessed via the province by Health Canada

• Remove all questions that can be answered by patients and are not eligibility/procedural safeguard questions and place them in a separate paper and electronic survey on Health Canada letterhead and available for printing by clinicians; it must be made very clear in this document that patients are contributing to the overall understanding of MAID in Canada and the identification of any systemic barriers to MAID Provinces and Territories already integrate questions that go beyond eligibility/procedural safeguards into their own MAID reporting forms/systems and for P/Ts reporting directly to Health Canada this is incorporated into the reporting portal. Doing this as a separate survey would only increase reporting burden.

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Here we have the Minister meeting with DWDC. Other Ministers have also met with DWDC. I wonder if these ministers have met with anyone opposed to euthanasia, or if they only meet with Dying With Dignity?

MEMORANDUM TO THE MINISTER OF EMPLOYMENT, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND DISABILITY INCLUSION 

Meeting with Dying with Dignity on December 7, 2021

For your Meeting

Summary

• You are meeting with the organization Dying with Dignity Canada (DWDC) regarding medical assistance in dying (MAID) on Tuesday December 7 at 2:00 p.m. DWDC representatives Helen Long and former Senator James Cowan will attend the meeting.

...Issues of interest to DWDC that are the focus of AMAD and the Expert Panel. Specifically, DWDC opposes the exclusion of mental illness and advance requests from MAID; they are in favor of reducing procedural barriers to MAID... 

...Organizations such as DWDC are opposed to the exclusion of mental illness from MAID... 

...Before the Act was passed, the House of Commons rejected a Senate amendment that would have permitted advance requests for MAID prior to being diagnosed with a grievous and irremediable medical condition (i.e., dementia). DWDC, among other organizations, was opposed to the Government’s decision to reject this amendment... 

Clearly, Dying with Dignity opposes any exclusions to MAID. 

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From an email internal to ESDC:

I attended a meeting today with Min (Kristina and Taras) with Dying with Dignity (former Senator Jim Cowan and Helen L). Focus of the discussion was how to bridge the gap between the perspectives of the disability community with that of dying with dignity. Specifically the organization was seeking advice on how to engage disability organizations.

Dying with dignity emphasized that as a principle their organization supports the idea that persons with disabilities should have access to the programs and services that would allow them to live.

But they see this as a separate issue from MAID and expressed concern that disability organizations were using MAID as a way to leverage additional action on disability supports. The emphasized that from their experience and work the perspective of advocacy organizations and individuals with disabilities was not aligned. That according to their studies and surveys persons with disabilities are just as likely to be supportive of MAID as other Canadians. They added that the principle of autonomy and choice were important ones for persons with disabilities to be treated equally as other Canadians.

What about the persons with disabilities who are not supportive of MAID? There are lots of them. And once again, we have the DWDC doing their own studies.

They stated that many persons with disabilities do not want to make their perspectives known publicly and this is hindering their ability to bring these issues to light. They also speculated whether there needed to be more engagement and discussion (education) with the disability community about the process for MAID and the current safeguards in place.

Min emphasized that education was not necessarily something they saw as an issue, but identified some common ground on issues such as data collection, the development of safeguards. DWD indicated that there were no known cases of abuse of MAID in Canada and didn’t think it would be necessary to add additional safeguards noting these could end up being barriers to MAID . They also were not sure that making individuals aware of disability supports available to them would be practical  and were concerned that given the differences in supports available across the country this may lead to a barrier for individuals to access MAID.

Known cases of MAID abuse. Barriers to MAID are a problem? Disability supports are not practical?

Min raised that while there may not be cases of abuse known, that the pandemic has highlighted some of the biases that exist in the health care system and that often physicians look at disability more from a medical rather than social perspective and that there are biases embedded in that including disableism and ableism. Training was therefore an important aspect of the MAID system to ensure there was greater awareness of disability issues and the experiences of persons with disabilities.

Min said that there would be opportunities to engage more when the parliamentary review restarted and that they were also watching closely the work of the expert panel on mental health. It was agreed that a dialogue with the disability community may not be productive but finding areas of common ground would be.

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Helen Long is worried about the negative news reports on MAID. As we all should be. Very worried.

From: Helen Long, Dying With Dignity Canada Date: Tue, 24 May 2022 at 11:11 

Subject: Clearing up misconceptions

Hi

Stories have been circulating in the media about people in Canada being forced to access MAID, and that those who are not able to access supports that they need to live are opting to have MAID instead. We have published some facts on our website to clear up common misconceptions, like these ones, around Bill C-7 and expanded eligibility criteria for medical assistance in dying.

Recent polling has shown that 82% of Canadians support the removal of the "reasonably foreseeable" death requirement from MAID legislation and that 86% continue to support the Carter v. Canada decision. These and other stats can be found in a newly released Ipsos poll, conducted on behalf of Dying With Dignity Canada. 

Note above that maybe polling should be done from a third party and not by DWDC.

We were pleased to see the House of Commons unanimously support a motion regarding a Canada Disability Benefit. The federal government must increase investments into supports for people with disabilities and fully support our most vulnerable populations, so they have every opportunity to thrive.

Thanks to the generous contributions of 1,247 supporters, we surpassed our fundraising goal this spring, with a total of $111,663 raised (and counting!).This support has afforded our team the resources needed to increase our education, patient navigation, and support work now and into the future.

This is a common bragging point in DWDC's emails--how wonderful it is to get the thousands and thousands of dollars in donations.

The last thing I want to share with you today is that the Final Report of the Expert Panel on MAID and Mental Illness has been released. This report will help to inform the Committee as they finalize their own Interim Report on MAID and Mental Illness, which is expected to be completed by June 23. We thank the members of the Panel for their work in producing recommendations on practice standards, vulnerabilities, implementation, and more.

Sincerely,

Helen

CEO

Dying with Dignity is very cozy with the Justice Department

 “...My organization [Dying with Dignity Canada] and I enjoyed a close and respectful working relationship with your predecessor (Justice Minister David Lametti] who very ably managed profoundly important changes to the Criminal Code of Canada concerning the legalization of medical assistance in dying...” Letter from CEO Helen Long to Justice Minister Arif Virani

In the above excerpt from a letter dated July 28, 2023 to Justice Minister Arif Virani, CEO Helen Long informs us that Dying with Dignity has a close and respectful working relationship with the Justice Department. 

This is clearly the case: between May 13, 2022 and April 19, 2024, Dying with Dignity Canada wrote a total of 14 letters and emails to David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, and to Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions. Most of these letters were from CEO Helen Long. In late 2023, Minister Arif Virani met with Helen Long. DYDC has also met with previous ministers.

This is troubling. The very people who advocate for euthanasia—who receive millions in donations for their euthanasia advocacy ($3,791,596 in 2024); who have a whopping $9,231,137 in assets, of which $7,370,174 is apparently not needed operationally as it is stashed away in long term investments; whose CEO earns between $200,000 and $249,999 a year—these people are advising, meeting with, and cosying up to the politicians responsible for euthanasia law. Of course politicians are lobbied all the time, nothing new here. But to have such a close relationship, and to have this much influence on a law that permits the killing of the sick, the aged, the disabled, we should be deeply troubled that this “charity” has such a stranglehold on euthanasia law. 

The anti-euthanasia lobby does not have anything near this kind of financial ability to spend this much time and effort fighting against euthanasia, as Dying with Dignity has fighting for euthanasia.

Helen Long likes to finish her letters with this:

“Dying With Dignity Canada's national office is located within Treaty 13, the traditional home of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. Our presence on this land is not to be taken for granted. We are grateful for the opportunity to share, meet, collaborate, live, and work on this land. It is our responsibility, as both an organization and as individuals, to learn about the current and historical effects of settler-colonialism in Canada.”

I think it would be a good thing if Helen Long and Dying with Dignity would hand over the land they are occupying to the Mississaugas of the Credit, to the Anishnabeg, to to the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and to the Wendat peoples—as a good will gesture. Even better, she could hand over the $7,370,174 in long term assets. Words are cheap.

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A few of Long's letters to the politicians she lobbies. The full ATIP here.

December 21, 2022

Honourable David Lametti MP, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Honourable Carolyn Bennett MP, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions

Dear Ministers Lametti and Bennett:

Last week, the Federal Government announced its intention to table legislation in the new year requesting an - as of yet - unspecified extension to the sunset clause, which governs the coming into force of the medical assistance in dying (MAID) law as it pertains to applicants with mental disorders as a sole underlying medical condition. Originally, the delay of Bill C-7 for this category of requesters was to have expired on March 17, 2023, at which point these individuals could have made an application for MAID.

Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC) accepts the Government’s stated rationale for this postponement, namely that: “delaying eligibility for persons whose sole medical condition is a mental illness would allow more time for dissemination and uptake of key resources by the medical and nursing communities.” However, DWDC urges the Federal Government to work to ensure that this delay is as short as reasonably possible.

There is a small number of people across Canada who have been afflicted with severe mental health disorders, the irremediable character of which has resulted in longstanding suffering. They have been waiting patiently to be permitted to exercise some agency in their end-of-life treatment options. The passage of Bill C-7 brought hope to this group of severely afflicted sufferers that they might be granted equivalent autonomy, consistent with their Charter rights and protections, in applying and being assessed for MAID. A delay at this point will likely seem unjust to them as it further prolongs their wait and their suffering. We should keep in mind that only a small subset of this group will ever likely proceed with a MAID assessment, let alone be approved to receive MAID.

As you know, 65% of people across Canada, when polled, have indicated their belief that access to MAID, for those whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental disorder, ought to be allowed if they meet all other criteria and have the capacity to provide informed consent.

In closing, permit me to underscore a couple of key points which I believe that Members of the Government should keep top of mind going forward as they work with their colleagues in other parties and the Senate to advance this important piece of legislation:

> We must avoid exacerbating the dated belief that mental illness is somehow qualitatively different and less deserving of compassion than physical illness;

> Assessment by at least one assessor with expertise in the condition is an important procedural safeguard for clinicians who may be faced with a mental health MAID applicant;

> Canadian clinicians and psychiatrists demonstrate an inherent degree of instinctual caution. They have cared for patients with mental disorders in their practice and have the experience and tools to deal with the complexities and challenges arising in such cases. Clinical practice evolves overtime and the prudence, professionalism, and concurrent education of Canadian practitioners suggests a careful and rigorous approach to such cases would be the norm;

> MAID providers - nurse practitioners and physicians - have the highest possible incentive not to stray beyond the bounds of the Criminal Code or to possibly breach the laws and practice standards of their regulatory bodies in that they would be subject to criminal charges and lose their medical license;

> The existing conscience rights provision protects any health care professionals who are opposed to, or uncomfortable with, assessing for or providing MAID; and

> Evidence from overseas indicates that the number of approved mental health applicants for medical assistance in dying would likely be extremely small. 

We hope you and your ministerial colleagues with responsibilities for different aspects of the MAID law and its implementation will bear in mind these important points as you consider the length of the delay to be adopted and the attendant suffering of people across Canada.

If the sunset clause is extended, we strongly urge those tasked with reviewing the safeguards to work swiftly and compassionately to ensure autonomy for those impacted by this announcement.

Thank you, Ministers, for the work you have done to formulate a balanced and humane approach to the legal framework governing medical assistance in dying.

We hope you and your ministerial colleagues with responsibilities for different aspects of the MAID law and its implementation will bear in mind these important points as you consider the length of the delay to be adopted and the attendant suffering of people across Canada.

If the sunset clause is extended, we strongly urge those tasked with reviewing the safeguards to work swiftly and compassionately to ensure autonomy for those impacted by this announcement.

Thank you, Ministers, for the work you have done to formulate a balanced and humane approach to the legal framework governing medical assistance in dying.

Sincerely,

Helen Long CEO 

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Sent: Monday, July 31, 2023 10:07 AM

To: Virani, Arif - M.P. <Arif.Virani@parl.gc.ca>

Cc: @dyingwithdignity.ca>

Subject: Congratulations & Reconnecting

Dear Minister Virani,

Sincere congratulations on your well-deserved appointment to Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Having enjoyed our discussions in the past, I look forward to being back in touch on the important issue of medical assistance in dying. I know you will have many priorities in the days ahead, but would appreciate the chance to re-connect as your time permits. 

I've also attached a letter of congratulations on behalf of our entire organization.

Kind regards, Helen

Helen Long (she/her)

CEO

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July 28, 2023 Honorable Arif Virani

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Dear Minister Virani:

I wanted to send you a brief note congratulating you on your appointment as Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General. I know that your tenure as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice in the 42nd and 43rd Parliaments will have prepared you admirably for this role. I would like to take this opportunity to wish you well as you tackle the major legal and legislative issues which the Justice Department is responsible for overseeing.

My organization and I enjoyed a close and respectful working relationship with your predecessor who very ably managed profoundly important changes to the Criminal Code of Canada concerning the legalization of medical assistance in dying. I know that you also were very much involved in those discussions in the context of your membership of the Special Joint Committee on medical assistance in dying in 2021.

I would look forward to an opportunity to meet at some point in the coming months to discuss some of the remaining issues that Canadians believe need to be addressed to ensure we have an enlightened and progressive regime of end-of-life choices for all those who suffer grievously with physical or mental disorders.

I wish you all the very best, Minister, in your new role. Sincerely,

Helen Long CEO 

Dying with Dignity meets the Minister of Justice - of course they do

"I would like to start by thanking Dying with Dignity Canada for the role your organization has played in relation to medical assistance in dying(or MAID) in Canada."

How pathetic is that? Congratulating the euthanasia cult in Canada.

From an ATIP to the Minister of Justice. The Minister is briefed on his upcoming meeting with Dying with Dignity on July 9, 2025:

"Title: Meeting of the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice with Dying with Dignity Canada

Overview

You have a meeting with Dying with Dignity Canada (DWDC) on July 9, 2025. DWDC wants to meet to discuss how the Government can support the legalization of advance requests to receive medical assistance in dying (MAID) and the role that DWDC can play. Proposed talking points are attached at Annex 1.

DWDC is a human-rights charity committed to improving quality of dying, protecting end-of-life rights, and helping people avoid unwanted suffering. It is one of the largest pro-MAID advocacy groups in Canada and advocates for the expansion of MAID regarding advance requests, mental illness, and mature minors. DWDC have submitted briefs and testified before Parliamentary committees on the various bills and studies concerning MAID.

Background

Federal MAID Framework

On June 17, 2016, MAID was legalized in Canada for persons whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable through former Bill C-14, after the Supreme Court of Canada held in Carter v Canada (2015) that the criminal laws prohibiting assistance in dying were unconstitutional. Sections 241.1-241.4 of the Criminal Code now outline eligibility criteria and safeguards, while amendments to sections 227, 241 and 245 provide exemptions from offences such as homicide, where all of the eligibility criteria and safeguards are satisfied.

In 2019, the Superior Court of Quebec declared the requirement that natural death be reasonably foreseeable to be unconstitutional(Truchon). This decision declared the MAID framework at that time unconstitutional, stating the “reasonable foreseeability of natural death” criterion violates section 7 of the Charter for being too restrictive. The Attorney General of Canada did not appeal this decision and instead made the policy choice to expand eligibility for MAID. The eligibility for MAID was expanded to persons whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable through former Bill C-7, which received royal assent on March 17, 2021. Former Bill C-7 also temporarily excluded persons whose sole underlying condition is a mental illness from eligibility for MAID. Per former Bill C-7’s coming into force provisions, this exclusion outlined in subsection 1(2.1) was originally set to be repealed on the second anniversary of the coming into force of the bill, March 17, 2023. On March 9, 2023, through former Bill C-39, this was extended by one year to three years from the coming into force of former BillC-7. It was once again extended a further three years (for a total of six years from the coming into force of former Bill C-7) through former Bill C-62, until March 17, 2027. Bill C- 62 included a section that requires a joint parliamentary committee to undertake a comprehensive review relating to the eligibility for MAID of persons whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental illness that must commence by February 28, 2026. There has been criticism from stakeholders on the delay of the repeal of subsection 1(2.1)

MAID and Advance Requests

An advance request refers to situations where a person requests MAID before they are eligible and before they want to receive it and outlines the circumstances under which they would want to receive MAID, in the future, if such circumstances arise after they lose capacity. This is different than the waiver of final consent that permits a person whose natural death is reasonably foreseeable and who has been approved for MAID but risks losing capacity before the date on which MAID is scheduled to be provided to waive the requirement for final consent. Under federal law, this is the only circumstance under which MAID may be lawfully provided to a person who does not have capacity. The provision of MAID based on an advance request is not permitted under the Criminal Code.

MAID is a matter of shared jurisdiction. The criminal law aspect falls under the responsibility of the federal government while the health care aspect, including its implementation, falls under the responsibility of the provinces and territories. On June 7, 2023, the National Assembly of Quebec passed Bill 11, An Act to amend the Act respecting end-of-life care and other legislative provisions, which amended Quebec’s end-of-life law to permit the provision of MAID based on an advance request in the province. This is not permitted under the Criminal Code and so a practitioner in Quebec who provides MAID in accordance with Quebec’s law would commit a criminal offence (murder).

The previous Health and Justice ministers said publicly that the federal government would not initiate a challenge regarding the constitutionality of Quebec’s law, but that it remains a criminal offence to provide MAID based on an advance request. The previous government undertook a national conversation on advance requests from November 2024 to February 2025 to better understand the perceptions and views of people in Canada. Health Canada is expected to publish a report on key findings from the national conversation.

Talking Points

Meeting with Dying with Dignity Canada

•I would like to start by thanking Dying with Dignity Canada for the role your organization has played in relation to medical assistance in dying(or MAID) in Canada.

•The Government of Canada is committed to working with all partners and stakeholders to ensure that our MAID Laws reflect Canadians’ evolving needs, protect those who may be vulnerable, and support autonomy and freedom of choice.

•I am interested to hear your perspectives given the on-the-ground expertise your membership brings to this complex and deeply personal issue."

Dying with Dignity's death advocacy is heartwarming, motivating, exciting, wonderful, awesome

Some particularly ghoulish quotes from Dying with Dignity's emails, as they eagerly begged for donations prior to the year end. (Remember that in 2022 they had $8 million dollars in assets; spent a whopping $612,015 on fundraising, $793,408 on advertising, and $1,240,622 on salaries. No small potatoes for these death pushers but clearly they needed more.)

"I have been blown away by the incredible response we received last week in the lead up to the 2023 year-end deadline. It was one of the most heart-warming and motivating acknowledgements of the deep commitment to this work...1,154 donors across 10 provinces, 2 territories, and 3 states, we raised an unprecedented $197,000 toward our 2024 budgetary goals...thank you for being part of this wonderful moment...what this backing means for Dying With Dignity Canada this year... we will be investing deeply in our advocacy, public education, patient navigation and support programs to advance end-of-life choice and care across the country... we will be championing policy changes to remove barriers to access at both the federal level (including any remaining legal impediments) and provincial level (primarily addressing institutional religious obstruction)...The possibilities are quite exciting.

...

I have, what we fondly call at the office, the ‘awesome problem.’It happens when your work goes a little too well. And by solving one problem you create a whole new one — and, of course, make more work for yourself in the process. But I like to focus on the ‘awesome’ part of the ‘awesome problem’: it means that Kelsey, Kat and I are on the right track. People across Canada are hungry for more resources, support and community around end-of-life choice and care. As word spreads about the tools, demand for kits and guides that can help patients and their families at every stage of their end-of-life exploration — including medical assistance in dying (MAID) — has only continued to grow. I have a feeling that you might want to join me in tackling this ‘awesome problem.’ Will you chip in $50, or whatever you can, to help fund Dying With Dignity Canada’s ambitious Support program goals in 2024? Our budget deadline for this ends on December 31.

But then this week DYDC's email took a somber note when they learned that the government will again delay euthanasia for mental illness. Darn it.

DYDC is also pushing for advance requests to be killed. Heck, they will even help you write your own op-ed to newspapers.:

"You can start with something as simple as “This is my experience and why I support advance requests for medical assistance in dying.” Reach out to our Communications team at media@dyingwithdignity.ca if you would like support in writing your piece or connecting with your local paper."

And if you have dementia, there's still hope you can be put to death if you: 

"satisfy all the requirements laid out in the federal law." Whew.

Last but not least DYDC has written a handy booklet: "What to expect at a MAID death." It gives you all the information you need to know about what it's like to be killed by lethal injection but were afraid to ask.

Here Dying with Dignity gets some old people to carry their death signs for them.

National Association of Federal Retirees hosts webinar from Dying with Dignity

Dear National Association of Federal Retirees,

I just wanted you to know how upsetting it was to see that the Association of Federal Retirees is promoting a seminar from Dying with Dignity about MAID. I am against euthanizing people. It is an immoral and unethical action to kill people who are ill, instead of providing them with compassionate care and or palliative care to help them in their final days.

Dying with Dignity pushes their death agenda onto Canadians by using donations from Canadians to lobby government into pushing for more and more greater use of MAID. 

Even the UN has spoken out against our horrific MAID regime:

https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/un-committee-rightly-calls-out-canadas-systemic-devaluation-of-disability-david-shannon-in-canadian-affairs/

https://macdonaldlaurier.ca/un-committee-rightly-calls-out-canadas-systemic-devaluation-of-disability-david-shannon-in-canadian-affairs/#:~:text=By%20David%20Shannon%2C%20June%209,foreseeable%20%E2%80%94%20to%20qualify%20for%20MAID.

https://www.cardus.ca/news/news-releases/statement-regarding-un-committees-call-to-reverse-maid-expansion-in-canada/#:~:text=The%20UN%20Committee%20on%20the%20Rights%20of,MAiD%20for%20mental%20illness%20should%20be%20reversed

Unsuspecting vulnerable members may attend the webinar without realizing that Dying with Dignity is the major advocate of euthanasia in this country, and that this webinar will most certainly discuss MAID.

I hope that you will reconsider hosting this webinar from Dying with Dignity, and instead provide access to another provider.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Patricia Maloney

Dying With Dignity Canada lobbies government 139 times and counting / 2025 financial statements

Dying with Dignity Canada most recent government lobbying

Type: Consultant
Lobbyist: Tom Potter, Blackbird Strategies, Ltd.
Registration: 6 of 6 (2026-05-25 to present)
Posted: 2026-05-25

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A couple of notes on Dying with Dignity's recently published 2025 financial statements.

DWDC has long-term investments of $8,160,832 (2025), up from $7,370,174 (2024). Imagine a charity so rich that they can afford to keep more than $8 million in long-term investments--money that clearly isn't needed to run the business. They also received $646,153 in investment income alone. Can you imagine a pro-life charity being this rich? Neither can I.

My guess is that they will use this great big juicy horde of cash to pay for their Charter challenges (British Columbia court battle and the Mental Illness Exclusion Challenge in Ontario), and when they act as intervenors in other court cases. Lots of cash to do this. 

Donations are up: $ 2,976,918 (2025), from $ 2,759,606 (2024).

(I still puzzle why anyone would donate to this pro-death group who advocate, lobby and promote killing people. Why does Dying with Dignity even exist? Is it because of power? Or money? Or are they just plain old run of the mill lunatic psychopaths?)

Advertising and promotions $1,013,241 (2025), up from $803,555 (2024). That's over one third of their donations spent on advertising and promoting and lobbying the government for the killing industry.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has applied to be intervenor in the Brosseau case launched by Dying with Dignity. 

The Brosseau case is asking an Ontario court to legislate from the bench by approving medical homicide for Claire Brosseau who is living with mental illness alone. Court interventions are very expensive. We need your support.

If you can, please give a donation to help EPC.  

Instead, let's invest in living with dignity

I submitted a second ATIP to Health Canada for Dying with Dignity, to continue where the first one left off:

"Agendas, meeting notes, briefing materials, and calendar entries related to meetings between Canadian not-for-profit "Dying with Dignity Canada" [DWDC] and Health Canada officials between March 2020 and the present day."

I received the following information in an undated memo to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett regarding a meeting with DWDC:

1) We learn that Dying with Dignity also met previously in December, with the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough. This means that DWDC had at least two meetings with two different Ministers about euthanasia.

2) DWDC has a Letter writing campaign. On DWDC's website they encourage people to write to their MP to move:

"swiftly with the legalization of advance requests, so that those who wish to can make a request for MAID while they still have the capacity and autonomy to do so. We can’t lose momentum now." [good grief get a move on, we need to kill more Canadians.]

3) DWDC wants further expansion of advance requests for MAID.

4) DWDC wants to do better data collecting to determine whether there are any "inequalities or disadvantages based on race, Indigenous identity and disability". In other words, are we killing enough people based on race, Indigenous identity and disability?

5) DWDC wants to develop training for practitioners to be responsive to the needs of underserved and marginalized communities. So do they also want to kill more people from these communities? 

6) Next we have something called POINTS TO REGISTER. I'm not sure, but I think this is talking points for the Minister when she meets with DWDC. This is jaw dropping:

"I appreciate all the work you do to educate the public on end-of-life issues and support patients who are exploring MAID as an option. Than you for the thoughtful advice you have provided the government during the legislative consultations, committee reviews of the former BIll C-7 and the regulatory consultations, based on your experiences working with practitioners, patients and their families."

The Minister is thanking DWDC for their input in advocating for the killing of Canadians, all the while why DWDC receives government funding to advocate for killing Canadians. Which brings me to my next point.

7) Heath Canada is investing more money in MAID, to train doctors to kill people. 

How about instead we invest that money in palliative care?

8) DWDC wants to remove the RFND (reasonably foreseeable natural death) clause. In other words, further relax any safeguards that are left to protect people.

9) Health Canada has an end-of-life care unit. 18 people work here. An entire section devoted to working on euthanasia. I am not kidding. Once again, why don't we invest these 18 salaries into palliative care? If we use an average salary of $80,000 (and this figure is probably low), that would be $1,440,000/year we could put towards palliative care.

ATIP takes 502 days and yields 9 pages of information

This ATIP to Health Canada took 502 days to respond to, yielded exactly 9 pages of so-called information, from a total document count of 285 pages. 

It is hard to comprehend how it can take so long to respond to an ATIP, when you release virtually no information.

Page 2-247 and 256-285 were all redacted (i.e. all subject to solicitor-client privilege)

Page 1 Someone contacts Health Canada to ask about getting in touch with Dying with Dignity. Which is pretty funny. As I have shown many times before, DWDC has a very cozy relationship with Health Canada. The fact that someone would actually contact Health Canada to ask for an interview with DWDC tells me that the lines are definitely blurred between these two entities.

From: Health Media

Sent: 2024-08-09 1:57 PM

To: XXXXXXXXX

Subject: RE: Interview with  XXXXXXXXX

Categories: Referred

Hi  XXXXXXXXX,

Dying with Dignity is a charitable organization and is not affiliated with Health Canada. I’m afraid we wouldn’t be able to assist.

Their phone number is: 1-800-495-6156

Thanks,

Mark Johnson

Media Relations | Relations avec les medias

Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada

Government of Canada 

media@hc-sc.ac.ca | Tel: 613-957-2983

From: XXXXXXXXX

Sent: Friday, August 9, 2024 1:48 PM

To: HEALTH MEDIA SANTE (HC/SC)

Good day!

I'm just forwarding over this email I sent to the Dying with Dignity media line since I have not heard back yet.

I'm hoping we can get in contact with XXXXXXXXX  this interview.

Let me know if she is available.

Thank you,

From: XXXXXXXXX

Sent Friday August 9, 2024 8:20 AM

To: media@dyingwithdignity.ca 

Subject: Interview Request with XXXXXXXXX

Good Morning! I hope this email finds you well.

I'm XXXXXXXXX. I'm reaching out to see if we can book an interview with XXXXXXXXX. We are interested in talking about XXXXXXXXX. The interview will be live with XXXXXXXXX for 8-10 minutes. The time slot we are hoping to fill is 10:30am MDT (9:30am PDT). Let me know if that works for her schedule. Thanks and talk soon!

248-255 - yields some complaints from DWDC about Health Canada's survey on advance directives not being accessible outside of Canada. 

And this. Helen Long offers to give names of people to participate in the consultations:

I understand from the Minister's announcement that there will be a variety of ways to engage in the advance request consultations, including roundtables. As always, it is important to get the perspectives of those with lived experience. To that end, I wondered if you were looking for individuals who do have lived experience and might be able to contribute to this discussion? Let me know and if there is an opportunity, I would be happy to provide a list of individuals who could participate.

Does Health Canada take her up on this offer? There is no indication that they do. But if they did, that would certainly skew the results of the consultations.

The relationship between Health Canada and Dying with Dignity Canada

"It doesn’t cover every poll done by various other groups/organizations based on what I’ve seen over the years so not sure if it will seem biased?"

My latest ATIP from Health Canada regarding Dying with Dignity.

There is a Teams Meeting from Health Canada and the discussion was going to be on MAID (Page 18). On the agenda:

• "Can/should we point to other support/service pathways (e.g. palliative care, disability or mental health supports, etc.)" (One would hope that, of course palliative care would be discussed. The word "palliative" appears only once in the document. Was it discussed? Unknown.)
• "Seek feedback from a group called the MAID Network (reps incl. DWDC, Bridge C-14, MAID Family Network, CAMAP and ppi with first hand knowledge working with the public)" (There is no mention of getting feedback from anyone opposed to MAID. The MAID Network all support MAID.)

Page 28. Helen Long writes another letter to the Health Minister congratulating her appointment as Minister of Health. I've lost count as to how many letters she has written to Ministers. 

Page 11. Memo regarding the polling done. 

"The focus is mainly on Ipsos Reid polls commissioned by DWDC but it does cover some other polling especially where there may be contradictory views on certain issues. It doesn’t cover every poll done by various other groups/organizations based on what I’ve seen over the years so not sure if it will seem biased? (emphasis added)" (Even the bureaucrats wonder if the analysis of the polls is biased. And the analysis does cover all DWDC's polls.)

Page 51-62 Polls about MAID. Media monitoring and analysis: Out of the 12 page report, there is a total of about one and a half pages devoted to polls not as favourable to MAID as the rest of the polls (***see links below). All the rest of the polls are from DWDC.

Page 64: Email from Helen Long:

"As you know, Dying With Dignity Canada has a long history of interest in assisted dying, including advance requests. We hear continuously from people across Canada, in all walks of life, who have a lived experience related to the desire for an advance request, or who have a personal or professional interest in the issue. With the goal of helping to ensure that lived experience as well as professional expertise related to advance request is included in the process, I am providing you with a list of individuals and clinicians who are interested in being part of the consultation process. Each of them has indicated their agreement to have their name shared with Health Canada and its contractor(s) for the purposes of consulting on advance requests. Some of these Individuals are well known and may already be on your list but am sharing just in case:"

Long then includes a (redacted) list of 23 persons and 12 clinicians. I think we can assume that all of these names are supportive of MAID. Did Health Canada reach out to them? Unknown. Did Health Canada reach out to anyone who is not supportive of MAID? Unknown.

*** Choi et al: When medical assistance in dying is not a last resort option: survey of the Canadian public

Angus Reid and Cardus: Disability & MAID: Three-in-five concerned lack of adequate care may push vulnerable to consider assisted dying

Thanks to Kelsi Sheren and Jordan Peterson: drowning with MAID

As I've mentioned before, Dying with Dignity has a very close relationship with the End of Life care division of Health Canada. They advise the Health Minister, and email the department regularly.

Besides Health Canada they also lobby the Justice department, and have done so since at least 2020, with a documented 115 monthly lobby reports. They lobby MPs, senators, ministers, government whips, the PMO's office, bureaucrats, basically anyone with a pulse.

So...remember when Kelsi Sheren told Jordan Peterson about the The Horrifying Truth Behind MAID They Aren't Telling You, based on testimony of Dr Joel Zivot? As in, people are drowning when they are MAIDed?

Well it seems that Helen Long of Dying with Dignity fame went a bit apoplectic when people started calling her about this (My recent ATIP for DWDC):

'Hi,

As I'm sure you're aware the misinformation (that hardly seems like enough of a word) about drugs used in the MAID process in Canada and the way they are experienced by patients is out of control. I'm sure you've seen the clip REDACTED and there have been numerous articles circulating. REDACTED got this request this morning indicating things are becoming more far reaching and skewed than ever. We've been getting quite a few calls and REDACTED mentioned that they are having patients express fear and concern to clinicians because of this inaccurate information. (emphasis added)

I'm wondering if Health Canada (as the regulator) is considering adding additional information regarding the drugs or some kind of fact check regarding the REDACTED comments to their website or releasing some kind of statement? Can you tell me if there have been any discussions with comms?

Happy to have a quick call if that's helpful. I can be reached at REDACTED

Best,

Helen

Helen Long (she/her)'

I hope patients are expressing fear and concern about letting the likes of the pro-deathers kill them. That is good news. Thankfully Health Canada doesn't appear to act on Helen Long's panic letter.

'Hi Helen,

Thanks for flagging. We are still having discussions regarding what we are able to address and how. Unfortunately material such as podcasts (that you forwarded earlier) and challenging to address since they are opinion pieces essentially. Also, we don't want to bring additional attention to that type of material.

Appreciate you continuing to keep me in the loop.

Thanks,

Here is Dr Joel Zivot's submission to the Senate on February 8, 2021. Dying with Dignity debunks Dr Zivot's testimony. Of course they do. I encourage readers to read his testimony yourselves and be your own judge as to whether or not people drown when receiving MAID.

Note: Dr. Zivot discusses the three MAID drugs that DYDC also confirms are used for MAID.

Dying With Dignity Canada lobbies government 138 times and counting

Dying with Dignity, who make millions in donations every year, uses these millions to lobby the government -- 138 times to date. They do this lobbying to increase the number of people who are euthanized every year. They are in an exclusive relationship with the government, repeatedly meeting with ministers, while those ministers never meet with organizations opposed to killing people. 

No wonder Canada has a reputation for the most euthanasia friendly country in the world.

Dying With Dignity Canada lobbied on 2026-03-31

• Sean Fraser, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, Ministre de la Justice et procureur général du Canada | Justice Canada (JC)
• Thomas Law, Advisory, Policy and Regional Affairs | Justice Canada (JC)
• Hanife Masoomifar, Issues Manager, Office of the Minister of Justice | Justice Canada (JC)

Ottawa Citizen - Freedom of expression wins

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/judge-strikes-down-law-that-blocks-access-to-information-about-abortion-in-ontario

Judge strikes down law that blocks access to information about abortion in Ontario

 Elizabeth Payne, Ottawa Citizen

Published on: June 12, 2017 | Last Updated: June 12, 2017 7:05 PM EDT

An Ontario judge has thrown out a law that prevents the public from knowing how many abortions are being performed in the province, saying it impedes meaningful discussion and criticism about abortion services “which is a matter of public interest.”

The Association for Reformed Political Action, which challenged the law, called the ruling by Justice Marc Labrosse of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice a “huge victory” for freedom of expression.

“This decision strengthens democracy,” said André Schutten, ARPA Canada’s director of law and policy. “The question at the heart of this case was whether governments can avoid accountability on a particular matter simply by excluding information related to that matter from the access to information law. We are very pleased that the court has struck this censorship provision down.”

In his ruling, Labrosse said the law, which excludes information about abortion services from Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy, is too broad and was passed with virtually no debate. He ruled that the section in question is unconstitutional.

The province has 12 months to put remedial legislation in place before the current law becomes invalid.

Labrosse said Ontario relied on concerns of the Ontario Hospital Association that disclosing information about abortions could put the safety and security of patients, hospitals and staff at risk. But the law also excludes general statistical information on abortion, which was once available.

“The evidence in these proceedings leads me to conclude that in order to have a meaningful public debate, the available information to allow for a meaningful public debate certainly needs to go beyond some of the basic statistical information offered by Ontario … the information provided to date is clearly insufficient.”

Schutten said the motivation of his organization — which opposes abortion — was to “make sure we can comment and lobby with accurate numbers. We have never been interested in patient or doctor identifiers or individual names. All we are looking for is statistical general information.”
The ruling could have implications beyond abortion.

Ontario passed similar, although less broad, legislation preventing information from being made public about which health institutions are providing medically assisted death.

Dying with Dignity says such information is crucial to an informed public debate about access to and availability of medically assisted death.

Dying With Dignity Canada CEO Shanaaz Gokool said she sees similarities between the ruling on abortion statistics and her organization’s objection to restrictions on access to information about medical assistance in death.

Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish argued that banning access to information about where assisted death was being performed “hinders transparency, accountability and meaningful public debate,” and is not based on any evidence of public harm.
Beamish also intervened in the court ruling about records related to abortion services.

Gokool said her organization has asked the ministry whether the ruling on access to abortion information changes anything when it comes to limits on access to information about assisted death.
“The decision seems to say that withholding information from Ontarians about health care services limits the ability to have full public and social policy discussions.

“The province has to take another look at what they have passed. To do otherwise would be problematic.”

ARPA, which opposes assisted death, is also interested in information about the provision of services in the province, said Schutten.

“This is the interesting thing. Our organization has grave concerns about vulnerable people. But in this case we would agree with Dying With Dignity. We want to be able to know how many people are being killed and by what means.

“We can handle the information … and a good, robust debate.”
epayne@postmedia.com

Palliative care: no stats, not essential - MAID: yes stats, yes essential

I made a request to Health Canada for this information (someone else had already submitted the ATIP):

"Request Number: A-2019-001974, Agendas, meeting notes, briefing materials, and calendar entries related to meetings between Canadian not-for-profit "Dying with Dignity Canada" and Health Canada officials between 2016 and March 2020."

The first page of the document revealed that someone in Health Canada advised that the Minister should meet Dying with Dignity soon (within a month it states). It was Important to do so. Can you imagine a pro-life group ever getting to meet with the Minister? No, me neither. But for this pro-death organization, they did get a meeting with the Minister because it was "important" to do so and it had to be done quickly. This happened in 2016.

Note that CARP (CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF RETIRED PERSONS) also met with Health Canada in this April 2016 meeting. CARP also supports MAID.

"CARP believes the criteria under which patients can request and receive assistance in dying from a physician should be expanded."

This from the ATIP:

 The Minister of Health is apparently "determined to address mental health services and palliative care services". So I went to CIHI to see what they had on palliative care. What they had was from 2018 and nothing since then: CIHI 2018 report. 

When I asked CIHI if they had anything more recent than this 2018 report, the answer was no. When I asked them if they had any stats on palliative care, the answer was no. CIHI is the organization that publishes health statistics for Canada. They have nothing recent on the subject and no statistics. Shouldn't we be alarmed at these facts?

And it gets even worse. From Canadian Physicians for Life:

MAiD has been deemed an essential service in Canada. Currently, palliative care is not an essential service. Palliative Care needs to be deemed an essential service under the Canada Health Act. This would ensure all Canadians have access to compassionate end of life care that allows them to both live and die with dignity.

MAID is deemed an essential service. Palliative care is not deemed an essential service. But I can tell you that even though we have no statistics on palliative care in Canada we do have statistics of how many people we have killed. Health Canada publishes those statistics. In fact, the Minister of Health The Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, said he was:

"proud to present this Third Annual Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada (2021)"

He's proud to present statistics on how many people Canada killed. Let that sink in.

Dying with Dignity attacks conscience rights

Dear Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Justice Minister Sean Fraser,

I am writing to you to tell you that I am appalled at Dying with Dignity's court challenge to end forced transfer for medical assistance in dying. DWDC argues that https://www.dyingwithdignity.ca/advocacy/institutional-religious-obstructions/

"Individual clinicians have the right to object, for conscience reasons, to providing MAID or other medical treatments. The issue of IROs is not about the objection of clinicians, but that of institutions, which do not have conscience rights."

Bollocks. Institutions are made up of individual people. These individual people work in these institutions because they share the values of the institution. In this case it means that the health care providers at the institution must have their conscience rights protected. 

Dying with Dignity uses their millions in donations to fight against the conscience rights of people who are against participating in the evil of state sanctioned euthanasia. They have the money to lobby government (and they do so incessantly) and are hell bent on forcing these institutions to be involved in this killing. This is diabolical. 

Our government must protect the conscience rights of these health care providers at all of our hospitals to not commit MAID. IT is the ethical and moral thing to do.

Sincerely,

Patricia Maloney