Lethal Injections for Mental Illness is Wrong

An external review of Canada's medical assistance in dying is urgently required

Canadians with mental illness as their sole medical condition will be eligible to apply for lethal injections starting next year under legislation enacted while Justin Trudeau was prime minister.

According to the Government of Canada itself, it is committed to protecting vulnerable members of the community in relation to medical assistance in dying (MAID) laws.

Medical assistance in dying (MAID) is a complex and deeply personal issue. The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring our laws reflect Canadians’ needs, protect those who may be vulnerable, and support autonomy and freedom of choice. … The eligibility date for persons suffering solely from a mental illness is now March 17, 2027.¹

However, the death of a “young and healthy” man less than two weeks ago raises serious questions, as Kiano Vafaeian’s mother claims that his death by MAID was approved “based on mental illness.”²

A 26-year-old Ontario man has been euthanized by medical assistance in dying (MAiD) despite his doctor describing him as “young and healthy.”

Kiano Vafaeian died from MAiD on December 30, something his mother, Margaret Marsilla, announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday, stating the doctor who approved his euthanasia, found a “loophole” to kill her son.³

It is a matter of record that I oppose the extension of MAID for people whose sole medical condition is mental illness for several reasons, as documented in my former submission to the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying.⁴

One of the reasons being that it is not possible for a psychiatrist to predict a person’s future mental health with certainty, a fact that Dr. Sonu Gaind has stressed in his opposition against MAID for mental illness.

“The evidence shows that that we are right less than half the time,” said Dr. Sonu Gaind, chief of psychiatry at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

“That means that at least half the people who assessors say, ‘You’re not going to get better from your mental illness, and you can get MAID,’ at least half of those people would have gotten better. Meaning, we would have provided death under a false pretence.”⁵

Furthermore, there is evidence that MAID was effectively sold to Canadians by politicians under a false pretence, and that it is negatively affecting vulnerable members of society.

Investigative journalist Sam Cooper identifies that the incidence of MAID deaths in Canada has skyrocketed from 1,018 in 2016.

Canada’s state-assisted suicide program, called MAiD, was sold by the Liberal government as a “stringently limited, carefully monitored system,” a rare option of last resort for people at the very end of life. New data from Health Canada show that in 2024, 16,499 Canadians died by MAiD — 5.1 percent of all deaths in the country.

Does it not follow logically, from these data, that Ottawa’s original framework has, cloaked in the rhetoric of progressively humane ideals, insidiously crept into something far more sinister than what Supreme Court justices, in their wisdom, affirmed in a society-altering Charter of Rights ruling in 2015?⁶

Remarkably, since its inception, MAID has grown to become the 5th leading cause of death in Canada.

In addition to extending voluntary lethal injections to people whose sole medical condition is mental illness, Mr. Cooper notes that a joint House of Commons —Senate committee has recommended expanding eligibility of MAID to “mature minors”.

Before expanding MAID eligibility any further, the investigative journalist advocates for an external human-rights review to be conducted to ensure that it is not currently breaching the rights of vulnerable Canadians.

Roughly one in twenty deaths in Canada is now attributed to MAiD. On those numbers alone, rather than moving ahead with this expansion agenda, an external human-rights review should come first — and it should test whether Canada’s existing system is already breaching the rights of disabled, poor and socially isolated people before any further gates are opened.⁷

Furthermore, Mr. Cooper is not alone in this particular concern.

In fact, “disability advocates have taken Canada’s MAiD regime directly to the United Nations. In March 2025, Inclusion Canada and allied groups appeared in Geneva before the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, warning that Canada may be breaching its obligations under international disability rights law by offering assisted death to people whose suffering is driven by poverty, lack of care and discrimination.”⁸

For context, a Canadian doctor had previously approved Mr. Vafaeian to die by MAID. He was originally scheduled to die on September 22nd, 2022, however his mother intervened and his death was cancelled on that occasion.

“According to the Free Press, Vafaeian was 23 years old at the time, he had diabetes and had lost his vision in one eye — and he had no job, girlfriend, or plan for the future.”⁹

Two weeks ago, a different doctor administered a lethal injection to him.

An external human-rights review into MAID in Canada is definitely required and overdue.

1. Government of Canada. Canada’s medical assistance in dying (MAID) law. https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/ad-am/bk-di.html Retrieved on 11 January 2026.

2. Clayton DeMaine (10 January 2026) Mother says “Dr Death #2” approved mentally ill young son’s assisted suicide, True North. Retrieved on 11 January 2026.

3. Leah Mushet (2 January 2026) ‘Healthy’ 26-year-old man killed by MAiD for ‘mental illness’. Western Standard: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/healthy-26-year-old-man-killed-by-maid-for-mental-illness/70228 Retrieved on 11 January 2026.

4. Keith Mahar (23 November 2023) Submission to The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying: https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/441/AMAD/Brief/BR12828968/br-external/MaharKeith-e.pdf Retrieved on 11 January 2026.

5. Sharon Kirkey (6 November 2023). ‘We’re not ready’: Psychiatrists clash as deadline for opening MAID for mental illness looms. National Post: https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/psychiatrists-clash-deadline-maid-mental-illness Retrieved on 11 January 2026.

6. Sam Cooper (3 December 2025) From Exception to Routine: Why Canada’s State-Assisted Suicide Regime Demands a Human-Rights Review: Op/Ed. The Bureau.

7. Ibid.

8. Ibid.

9. Leah Mushet (2 January 2026) ‘Healthy’ 26-year-old man killed by MAiD for ‘mental illness’. Western Standard: https://www.westernstandard.news/news/healthy-26-year-old-man-killed-by-maid-for-mental-illness/70228 Retrieved on 11 January 2026.