CANADA’S QUICK EUTHANASIA: A STARK WARNING FOR MALTA

By Maltese Canadian

 Canada allows people to die by assisted suicide on the same day they ask for it. In recent years, dozens of cases happened within hours of the request. Critics say poor end-of-life care pushes people to choose death instead. The law once had a ten-day waiting period. That rule vanished. Now nothing stops same-day approvals.

Take the heartbreaking case of Mrs B. She was in her eighties. She suffered complications after surgery. At first, she wanted palliative care at home. She told her family she wished to end her life. Her spouse asked for an assessment. But Mrs B soon changed her mind. She spoke of her beliefs and faith. She asked for hospice care instead. Authorities refused that option. Two assessors approved euthanasia instead! 

This is despite the fact than one assessor even raised concerns about possible coercion and the speed of the process. She was killed the same day despite those worries and her change of mind based on Christian faith.

Doctors who specialise in palliative care called the outcome wrong. They said the focus should stay on proper care, not on hastening death.

This story raises serious alarms for other countries including Malta. In England and Wales, their assisted dying bill allows terminally ill adults to end life with help. As the bill stands now, people could die in as little as nine days after the first request. Just like in Canada, nothing prevents future amendments from cutting or removing that reflection period entirely. The bill has already passed the Commons. It now waits in the Lords. Many people fear rushed changes and weak safeguards.

Malta is moving in the same direction. Last year the government rushed an euthanasia consultation. The proposed model copies the one in England and Wales according to a Maltese government minister. The English law targets adults with a terminal illness expected to cause death within six months. Increasingly doctors warn that the change would damage palliative care services. Several groups have spoken out strongly against it. The same misgivings that surround the English bill appear in Malta. Stories like Mrs B from Canada make people question the direction.

Malta faces bigger problems too. Public debt keeps rising fast. It has reached worrying levels and continues to climb. Runaway spending edges the country closer to real trouble. In this situation it would be wiser for the government to “euthanise” its own financial mismanagement amid a shrinking native population with a reduced tax base. Fix the financial mess. Stop leading the country into deeper debt. That would help far more than saving the public purse by rushing to euthanise citizens who need good palliative care.

Palliative care saves lives and eases suffering. Quick death laws kill the most vulnerable. Malta must think carefully. Learn from Canada’s mistakes. Choose life and proper support over haste.