October 15, 2025

Dear Friends:

In the last few weeks, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has faced another Canada Post strike that has resulted in reduced donations. As stated during the strike in November and December of last year, most of our donations are received by mail. The Christmas season is approaching but we need your financial support now.

I have much good news to share. On September 25, Alberta’s Minister of Justice Mickey Amery announced that the province’s government will introduce legislation to give them more control over the euthanasia program. The particulars have not been released but the direction is positive.

The EPC is actively supporting Bill C-218. If passed, this bill will prevent euthanasia for mental illness alone. It is gaining support and it is possible that the bill will pass in the House of Commons. EPC has organized a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday October 28 that will feature a veteran who has lived with post-traumatic stress disorder, a Québec doctor, a person who has lived most of his life with disabilities, and myself. Please contact your Member of Parliament (MP) and encourage him/her to vote YES on Bill C-218.

We received an email from a woman known as Andrea. She stated that if euthanasia for mental illness alone had been available in 2011, she would not be alive today. Andrea learned about the planned extension of euthanasia to mental illness alone last year and was shocked that this may become possible in March 2027. She ended her email by stating, “Don’t give up on yourself. You matter. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.”

Internationally, the assisted suicide bill passed in UK Parliament, but based on speeches and polling among House of Lords’ members, it appears likely that it will be defeated in the British House of Lords. A key factor in the UK is the Canadian experience with euthanasia.

The Jersey government announced that it has postponed the assisted suicide debate until January 2026. Jersey is a self-governing island of the British Isles. If the British House of Lords defeats the assisted suicide bill, it is likely that Jersey will further delay the assisted suicide debate.

This month, the Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario’s MAiD Death Review Committee (MDRC) released another report on Ontario’s euthanasia deaths (see 2024 – 4, 2025 – 1, and 2025 – 2). The latest report stated that there were 103 people with dementia who died by euthanasia in Ontario. One of the concerning cases outlined in the report was a woman in her 80s who died by euthanasia after a family member made the request. The doctor accepted that the woman had consented to be killed by a squeeze of the hand.

[…read more]

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director