Forces member alleges MAID offer

VETERANS AFFAIRS

OTTAWA • A second Canadian Forces member has come forward with allegations that a Veterans Affairs Canada caseworker offered him medical assistance in dying after he asked for support for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Still in active service, the Canadian Forces member referred to himself only by the pseudonym “Bruce,” out of fear of retaliation, in Wednesday’s episode of Operation Tango Romeo, a trauma-recovery podcast for Canadian Forces members hosted by former Canadian soldier and veterans advocate Mark Meincke.

“I had been suffering from PTSD and recently had a lot of suicidal thoughts,” Bruce told Meincke during the gripping and emotional podcast, explaining he’d contacted Veterans Affairs Canada for help and awaited a return call from a caseworker.

“I was kinda hoping they would help me with my transition out of the military, help me find new doctors once I get out, and assist me with any other kind of claims I might have.

“I wasn’t expecting them to let me know ‘Hey, we had recently won litigation to assist members with MAID (medical assistance in dying), and you know that’s always an option,’ ” Bruce recalled, his voice steady but quavering.

“I was a little disturbed that if they had mentioned that to somebody else that was even worse off than I was, that could’ve been that little push over the edge.”

Global News first reported over the summer that an unidentified Canadian Forces combat veteran had claimed he was offered medically assisted death twice during a call with a VAC caseworker in August 2022. That would have occurred nine months after Bruce claims he was offered MAID.

Testifying before the Commons veterans affairs committee last month, Meincke recalled conversations he had with the first unnamed veteran — including claims by the caseworker that VAC had helped other Canadian Forces members arrange their deaths.

“He was told in his original phone call where he was offered MAID, ‘we can do it for you, because we’ve done it before, and one veteran that we’ve done this for, after we completed MAID, after we killed him, we now have supports in place for his wife and two children,’” Meincke told the committee. He added that the caseworker allegedly told the veteran that MAID was a better alternative to “blowing your brains out.”

The House veterans affairs committee was due to discuss MAID being offered to veterans on Thursday afternoon.

Bruce said on the podcast that it was Meincke’s testimony last month that prompted him to come forward, lamenting that he didn’t come forward earlier.

“I wish I had said something earlier, because maybe that would’ve put a stop to it right then and there,” he said.

Bruce remembered telling the caseworker he certainly wasn’t seeking help ending his life, but said he got the impression the option was being pushed.

“I said I’m in a good place right now, I don’t need to

I WAS A LITTLE DISTURBED ... THAT COULD’VE BEEN THAT ... PUSH OVER THE EDGE

worry about those things,” he recalled telling her.

“And she’s like ‘well I know, but it’s out there, if things get worse just let us know.’ ”

Bruce also alleged the caseworker mentioned that VAC had assisted a veteran win a recent court case to take his own life.

“That’s what I recall from the conversation, that she had said that they’d won a case in court to help with a veteran’s assistance in passing on.”

Meincke told National Post that Bruce first reached out to him on social media, wanting to tell his story.

“That turned into a phone call,” Meincke said.

“He’s current-serving, he was asking for help with the PTSD, and the exact same conversation.” He said Bruce is nervous about going public.

Meincke said the entire situation is appalling.

“It’s got to end,” Meincke said.