Retired Corporal Christine Gauthier, who competed for Canada at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the Invictus Games that same year, spoke before the House of Commons veterans committee and agreed to provide a copy of the letter. “With all due respect, I have a letter in my file because I had to deal with that as well,” Gauthier said, referring to the debate over veterans being offered the option of medical assistance in dying (MAID). “I have a letter that says if you’re that desperate, ma’am, we can offer you MAID, medical assistance in dying,” said Gauthier, who first injured her back in a training accident in 1989. Testifying in French, she said she has been fighting for a wheelchair ramp at home for five years and expressed her concerns about the assisted dying offer in a recent letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. “I sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and that they [Veterans Affairs] offered me MAID and would supply equipment,” Gauthier said. Gauthier did not say when the assisted dying offer was made, whether it came from a case manager or a veterans services agent, or when she wrote to the prime minister. Veterans Minister Lawrence MacAulay revealed last week in testimony before the same committee that four — perhaps five — cases of Canadian military veterans who were given the MAID option by a now-suspended veterans service agent were referred to the RCMP. MacAulay urged other veterans who may have had similar experiences to come forward. Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay stands up during question period Nov. 18 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press) Department officials told CBC News they could not confirm whether the Gauthier incident represented a new case or was something the department was already investigating. During his testimony last week, MacAulay walked the committee through four cases he said the department was certain had been uncovered as part of a file review that began last summer. The veterans service agent who allegedly provided the tips has been removed from her position while the department and the RCMP investigate. “We remain confident that this all relates to a single employee and is not a widespread or systemic issue,” MacAulay told the committee last week. Another veteran who testified Thursday, retired Corporal Bruce Moncur, said that at a meeting two weeks ago, a deputy minister at the department tried to assure an advisory board that includes veterans that what they were dealing with was an isolated incident. “Five days later, we found out through the media that all of that was a lie,” Moncur said. “So we literally have an assistant secretary of state lying to veterans five days before the truth comes out. So, I said, it’s disappointing to say the least.”
“I’m in shock”
A spokesman for MacAulay said late Thursday that the advisory committee received the most recent information the department had at the time of the meeting. NDP MP Rachel Blaney, a committee member, said she was shocked by what she heard on Thursday. “I just want to offer my deepest apologies,” he told Gauthier. “I’m just in shock. And thank you for bringing that reality [to the committee].” The question of what is happening to Veterans Affairs and whether the Liberal government has a handle on the problem was put before the prime minister during a media availability on Thursday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is trying to reassure veterans that the department’s employees associated with assisted-death offerings no longer have contact with the department’s clients. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press) Trudeau sought reassurance, saying the officials in question no longer have contact with veterans. He also acknowledged that these cases are part of a larger debate about expanding physician-assisted dying in Canada to include those with mental illness. This could become an option next spring. “The issue of medical assistance in dying is a deeply personal, extremely difficult choice that individuals and families must make as carefully and in the best way possible,” Trudeau said. “We understand that making sure we respect people’s rights and their choices, while protecting the most vulnerable, is a very important but challenging balance to strike.”
