November 6, 2025

Dear Friends:

In the past month and in upcoming months, we will be focussing on supporting Bill C-218, which will prevent euthanasia for mental illness alone. When parliament passed Bill C-7 in March 2021, it approved euthanasia for mental illness alone. The Liberal government delayed the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness alone until March 2027. MPs Tamara Jansen and Andrew Lawton sponsored C-218 to prevent the expansion of euthanasia to mental illness alone. Bill C-218 is scheduled for its first hour of parliamentary debate on December 5.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) launched a website and petition campaign under the banner: No MAiD for mental illness. The website has information about Bill C-218, personal stories from people who have lived with chronic mental illness who are happy to be alive, and an online petition. You can visit the website at this link.

EPC held a press conference in support of Bill C-218 at the Parliamentary Press Gallery on October 28 featuring our president, Gordon Friesen, Dr Paul Saba from Québec, Canadian veteran Kelsi Sheren from British Columbia, and myself.

Kelsi spoke about her battle with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that was caused by her service in Afghanistan. She stated, “Behind closed doors, in quiet conversations, veterans are being offered MAiD, not therapy, not recovery, but death.” She called euthanasia, “coercion wearing a polite face”.

Dr Paul Saba stated that a Harvard study found that 90% of people who receive effective treatment for their mental illness will recover, whereas euthanasia kills people.

Gordon spoke about the nature of consent. He explained how euthanasia for mental illness undermines the nature of consent and opens the door to other forms of medical homicide for people with a questionable ability to consent, such as children and people with other conditions.

I spoke about the reality of the law and urged MPs to vote no to euthanasia for mental illness.

The Slovenian parliament recently legalized assisted suicide. In response, a group formed successfully collected signatures for a referendum to overturn the assisted suicide law. We are working with the Slovenian group to provide resources for their campaign. The referendum will be held on November 23.

EPC started a multi-layered video project in October. The project is based on creating video vignettes to support Bill C-218, and others that could be used in Slovenia’s referendum campaign. At the same time we are creating a documentary with the working title, “Your Life is Worth Living”. We will need at least $40,000 in donations for this video project. If you are able, please donate online at this link, call 1-877-439-3348, or send an e-Transfer to info@epcc.ca

The Québec 2024/25 euthanasia report was recently published, stating that there were 6,288 reported euthanasia deaths, up by 9% and now represents 7.9% of all deaths in Québec. The euthanasia rate varies between regions. For instance, euthanasia represented 13.4% of all deaths in the Lanaudiere region and 4.7% of all deaths in Montréal. Québec has the highest euthanasia rate in the world. The report claimed that there were 19 cases that contravened the law, with at least one of those deaths being a person who was not able to consent.

The Illinois Senate passed assisted suicide SB 1950 by a vote of 30 to 27 on the last day of the legislature. You may remember that SB 1950 was originally the Sanitary Food Preparation Act. When the assisted suicide bill stalled in a committee, the sponsor of the bill gutted the Food Preparation Act and substituted it for the Assisted Suicide Act. As I write this letter, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has indicated that he may not sign the assisted suicide bill. Call him at 312-814-2121 or 312-814-2122 and tell him to veto the bill. While contacting Governor Pritzker, don’t forget to call New York (NY) Governor Kathy Hochul at 518-474-8390 and tell her to veto the assisted suicide bill. The NY Senate passed the assisted suicide bill in June. Governor Hochul is not sure if she will sign the bill but she must veto it. Your call may make the difference.

Bill C-218 is incredibly important. We will need at least 20 Liberal MPs to support it in order to prevent the implementation of euthanasia for mental illness alone.

A recent poll by Research Co found that 42% of Canadians support euthanasia for mental illness and 24% of Canadians support further expansions to the euthanasia law. The poll also found that 49% of Canadians support prosecuting anyone who helps a person commit suicide. There is a definite disconnect among Canadians. [Click here to view the data tables.]

The rotating Canada Post strike has significantly affected donations to the EPC. To those who are monthly donors, thank you, but to those who donate on a periodic basis, please consider our work.

With the onset of colder temperatures, we noticed once again that our roof heating/air conditioning unit stopped working. We are fortunate that the unit is a common model, but finding parts for a 30-year-old unit is difficult. We cannot afford to replace it; the cost of repair was significant.

The video project is fundamental to making a difference in Canada and worldwide. Can you donate to this project?

Please remember EPC while planning your Christmas donations.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director