Canada’s MAID Program Is An Express Train To Hell
The text discusses a Canadian physician, Dr. James MacLean, whose professional conduct in providing Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) has lead to discipline by the college of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. It alleges he assessed a Crohn’s disease patient for euthanasia in a Tim Hortons setting,later transported the patient to the euthanasia site,and administered lethal medications in a holding facility for cadaver transport. A separate complaint describes an at-home procedure where the patient was declared dead, left, then had to be re-done because the patient began breathing again.
It then notes that MacLean has declined to comment,points to mixed public reviews of him,and highlights online remarks that criticize the apparent casualness of the procedures and staff demeanor. The article broadens into a critique of MAID’s expansion in Canada, citing claims from a 2023 medical paper that MAID deaths have risen rapidly, with some regions reporting very high proportions of all deaths. It also references examples of controversial or questionable cases and reports fears that MAID could be offered in situations involving disabilities, mental health concerns, or ongoing needs for support (e.g., a caseworker offering MAID to someone seeking a wheelchair ramp).
it links to Canadian MAID guidelines and mentions policy expectations that eligibility will expand to include medically assisted euthanasia for people with mental illness alone starting March 17, 2027, while also noting ongoing advocacy to extend MAID to minors. The piece concludes with information about the author, Chris Bray.
We were warned.
There’s been a great deal of media attention this week on the professional discipline meted out to a Canadian physician who dispensed Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) with what appears to have been an extraordinarily casual approach to the job. As the Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail first reported, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario found that Dr. James MacLean medically assessed a Crohn’s Disease patient for euthanasia at a Tim Horton’s coffee shop, then later gave him a ride to the euthanasia facility. As the Globe and Mail also reported, “Dr. MacLean administered the lethal medications in a room at a holding facility in an industrial unit where cadavers are prepared for transport to funeral homes.”
A second complaint followed an at-home euthanasia procedure in which MacLean administered drugs to end a patient’s life, then pronounced the patient dead and left the home — returning to redo the procedure and pronounce death a second time after the patient started breathing again.
You can read MacLean’s disciplinary record here. To continue to provide MAID as a physician, he’ll be required to “practise under the guidance of a clinical supervisor or clinical supervisors … for at least six (6) months.” MacLean is also required to engage in “review, reflection, and discussion” with his clinical supervisor regarding the meaning of MAID guidelines, covering topics like “Maintaining Appropriate Boundaries.”
MacLean has repeatedly declined to comment on the charges or the disciplinary proceeding.
The website RateMD contains mixed reviews for MacLean, with many offering praise for his compassion and professional expertise. But another review describes him performing euthanasia procedures while wearing jeans and a “casual shirt,” with a nurse who was “wearing tight yoga pants and a tight t shirt.” (“The nurse stood there texting on her phone with a smile on her face as my son was dying. As soon as his heart stopped they couldn’t wait to get out.”)
Another review opens like this: “Dr. James MacLean may seem charming but so is Satan.”
Canadian doctors and health law scholars have warned for years that MAID keeps expanding, evading checks and balances. For clarity, this paragraph, from a 2023 paper in a medical journal, is quoted with parenthetical citations removed:
Since its legalization in 2016, the number of deaths by MAiD in Canada has risen dramatically each year. Within 3 years of its introduction, 2% of all deaths in Canada were by MAiD, and by 2021, MAiD had increased to 3.3% of all deaths in Canada. Some areas of Canada presently are reporting MAiD death rates upwards of 7%. In 2021, Canada had 10,064 deaths by MAiD, surpassing all other countries for yearly reported assisted deaths.
That same paper describes a long series of questionable MAID deaths, including a man euthanized for a “hearing and cognitive disability” with “recurrent episodes of depression” and a woman who received MAID after a concussion. Death is also being suggested as an option to people who require ongoing medical services: “A military veteran and former Paralympian who has been trying to get a wheelchair ramp installed at her home for the past 5 years testified that she was offered MAiD by her caseworker.”
You can read national guidelines for MAID here. Don’t miss sentences like this one on page 7: “There is debate about whether to consider a request for MAID as a form [of] suicidal ideation.”
Against growing opposition, MAID eligibility is expected to expand on March 17, 2027, to allow medically assisted euthanasia for those who only suffer mental illness, with no terminal illness or physical ailment. Euthanasia advocates also argue for expanding MAID eligibility to minors, though that proposal has not advanced.
Chris Bray is a senior correspondent at The Federalist and a former infantry sergeant in the U.S. Army. He has a history PhD from the University of California Los Angeles, not that it did him any good. He also posts on Substack, at “Tell Me How This Ends,” here.
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