Death for the homeless and disabled? "Disturbing" Canadian laws spark concern for state assisted dying plans in Scotland

Campaigners have drawn attention to “disturbing” developments in Canada as they warn MSPS not to legalise assisted suicide. In recent months, reports have emerged of marginalised Canadians seeking an ‘assisted death’ due to poverty, disability and homeles

Campaigners have drawn attention to “disturbing” developments in Canada as they warn MSPS not to legalise assisted suicide. In recent months, reports have emerged of marginalised Canadians seeking an ‘assisted death’ due to poverty, disability and homelessness. Is this a progressive route for Scotland?

Amir Farsoud didn’t want to die. But after being threatened with eviction, he applied for medically assisted death (MAID) rather than face being homeless. Mr Farsoud, from Ontario, Canada, qualified for an assisted death under the country's controversial laws despite not having a terminal illness, or even wanting to die - his chronic back pain was enough for a doctor to sign him off for a lethal injection. 'I don't want to die but I don't want to be homeless more than I don't want to die,' he said. 'It's not my first choice.'

His story made headlines in Canada, and a Gofundme page set up for him by a stranger raised over $60,000 - enough to get him new housing and to change his mind about ending his life. Just a month after his story was first shared, Mr Farsoud said: “I’m a different person. The first time we spoke, I had nothing but darkness, misery, stress and hopelessness. Now I have all the opposite of those things.”

Thankfully, Mr Farsoud's story has a happy ending. But for many marginalised and suffering people in Canada, the end has been very different. Michael Fraser, who, again, was not terminally ill, had his life ended on July 2, at the age of 55. His physician said: “poverty is pushing people to MAID … For sure, I think the fact that he had trouble paying his rent made it harder for him to be in this world.” A woman in Ontario was forced into euthanasia because her benefits did not allow her to move to better housing which didn’t aggravate her crippling allergies.

Another disabled woman applied to die because she ‘simply cannot afford to keep on living’.

When euthanasia was first legalised in 2016, it was initially only available to terminally ill adults or people whose deaths are ‘reasonably foreseeable’. By 2021, MAID was responsible for 3.3 per cent of all Canadian deaths. From March 2023, it will be available for people suffering from purely mental health conditions.

Dr Miro Griffiths, expert adviser on disability policy, says that Canada is a clear warning to Scotland. "Canada shows that laws of this kind are inherently unsafe, and unpredictable. In Canada and other European jurisdictions, safeguards have failed and been dispensed with over time as activists push for wider access to legislation.

“Cases of coercion and abuse, and worsening discrimination against marginalised groups are also part of the global picture. People feel forced to opt for assisted death because of poverty, homelessness, or a lack of care...

“The evidence heard in previous debates about assisted suicide makes it clear that legalising this practice in Scotland would jeopardise the safety, dignity, and equality of many Scots. It remains a regressive and dangerous plan.”

Liam Mcarthur's Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill will be debated soon by the Scottish Parliament. The example of Canada shows what happens when a Western, modern nation opens the door to "assisted dying". Is this the future we want for Scotland?