Saskatchewan’s 811 HealthLine offers doctor assisted suicide — including to some callers which are dialling in for mental health concerns.
The revelation comes as People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier posted a video of himself calling the hotline with a friend.
An automated voice on the end of the line gives the caller five options: to deal with COVID-19 concerns, to speak with a registered nurse, to speak with a mental health and addictions clinician, to speak with poison control, and finally, an offer for an assisted dying program.
“Press five if you wish to leave a message with a medical assistance in dying program,” the automated voice says.
According to the Government of Saskatchewan, the HealthLine 811 is a “confidential, 24-hour health and mental health and addictions advice, education and support telephone line available to the people of Saskatchewan.”
“It is staffed by experienced and specially trained Registered Nurses, Registered Psychiatric Nurses, and Registered Social Workers.”
Assisted suicide was legalized in Canada in 2016. Under the Criminal Code, only those with a terminal illness were eligible initially. But the Trudeau Liberals massively expanded eligibility to include those with a disability. Those suffering solely from a mental illness will be eligible for assisted dying beginning March 2023.
As previously reported by The Counter Signal, medical assistance in dying accounted for 3.3% (10,064) of all deaths in Canada last year. In 2020, there were 7,630 MAID deaths, and in 2019 there were 5,661, meaning after two years of lockdowns, euthanasia requests have nearly doubled.
Recently, the Canadian Virtual Hospice has created an “activity book” to help children “explore their feelings” about doctor-assisted dying “by someone in your life.”
And earlier this month, sources at Veterans Affairs Canada revealed that an employee casually offered euthanasia to a CAF veteran struggling with a brain injury and PTSD.
Sources told Global News that the veteran was improving, both physically and mentally, following a traumatic brain injury received while serving in the line of duty. The casual offer to be killed impeded progress, sources said.
