Mercy, mercy – Canadian-style?

Fox News, CNN, and others have reported about a “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAID) case in Ontario, brought by Brigitte Kranendonk, a young woman who cared for her grandmother Brigitte Stegemann, in a nursing home until Mrs. Stegemann was killed by lethal injection on July 10th, despite previously refusing MAID. And despite Ms. Kranendonk holding her grandmother’s general power of attorney and concurring with her grandmother (“Oma”) refusing the euthanasia.

She repeated stated, “I don’t want the death shot,” and pulled out IVs multiple times fearing that the reason the IV was being installed was to administer the lethal injection. On the day of her death, the attending doctor ordered a nurse to inject Oma, despite not receiving an answer from the 83-year-old when he asked if it was “okay to proceed.” The granddaughter reports (confirmed by others) that English was not Oma’s first language, that she was very hard of hearing, and was in essence railroaded or ignored before being killed.

There is some evidence that the nursing home was complicit, “needing the bed” for a large backlog of patient requests. There are many other questions being asked and (for now) being unanswered or giving answers that show the seriousness of the situation.

It is reported that 5% of deaths in Canada last year were using MAID. It is hard to verify, as apparently the death statistics use the reason that MAID was used (incurable, terminal cancer) as the “cause of death.” (By the way, cancer is the number one cause: 26 percent of all deaths in 2025. Apparently followed by heart disease and accidents.) The 5% is about 16,000 deaths per year using MAID.

We only know about the irregularities regarding Oma Stegemann’s killing because after weeks of discussion, research, and prayer, the family (particularly Brigitte) decided that something should be done. We don’t know about whether this is a widespread problem. We do know that Parliament has, in recent years, greatly widening the reasons for getting MAID, and the power of medical care personnel to use it.

We also note that doing, supporting, and managing euthanasia, which MAID is, even with the consent of the person being killed (or their parents/legal guardian) was the crime for which numerous Nazis and other Germans were tried, convicted, and executed following WW2. Even though much of that program had no connection to the war itself, were legal under German law, and were generally of German citizens, not foreigners, POWs, or other victims that would normally be subject to the laws of war. One of those was Karl Brandt, the Reich (National) Commissioner of Health and Emergency Services.

To us as lovers of liberty, MAID is a perfect example of how both Canadian government and the Canadian health care professions have been perverted and twisted and corrupted. Clearly, for those men and women who assisted 16,000 people in dying, their moral compass is missing: Canadian medical professionals apparently abandoned the Hippocratic Oath long ago: their current “code of ethics” is not even enforceable and more concerned with DEI and social justice than saving lives and preventing harm. In the same way, Canadian federal and provincial governments have abandoned the only reasons for human government to exist: to honor and uphold those who do good and punish those who do evil. MAID is, of course, just one of many, many examples of such perversions: we can look at abortion and thousands of actions by governments in Canada to see precisely how.

(Note that we do not say that honor and punishment are reasons that justify human and mandatory government.)

It is claimed that MAID (and similar programs in various US States and other nations, especially in Europe) are “merciful” but the very matters that concerned many people have already been well documented: potential abuses, ethical dilemmas, and the implications for vulnerable populations. Critics argue that as MAID expands, it is leading to coercion and undermining the sanctity of life, particularly for those with mental health issues or disabilities.

The same thing is seen in Europe, especially in the Low Countries. Of all peoples, you would think that those nations would remember the lessons of the Third Reich. (Those are the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and are joined by Spain and Portugal.)

Does a human being have a right to kill themselves? Yes, they do: we believe at TPOL that this is inherent in free will as we were created by God. (It does not make it good (right) to kill yourself, any more than many other things we have the power to do are not good or right. The entire idea of “assisted suicide” is both a gray area and seems to often lead into euthanasia. Can a man or woman on one hand pledge to do no harm and on the other, to assist someone in killing themselves? To us, even assisted suicide violates the “zero aggression principle” politically and the Golden Rule morally.

But what is happening in Canada, in the Low Countries, and in Spain and Portugal is far, far from mercy: we find it interesting that all of these places have outlawed (at least officially and usually in practice) capital punishment for even capital crimes: first-degree murder, rape, much less torture, kidnapping, and such. Again, human government is by its very nature bad, but we are seeing an even greater decay in its “morality” and excuses for existing.

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