Canadian man applied for assisted suicide because he can’t afford being disabled

A man who is seeking assisted suicide, because he can no longer afford to live with his disability, has criticised the Canadian Government for sidelining the disabled.

Speaking on The Van Maren Show, Les Landry said that disabled people who do not want to die are increasingly viewing assisted suicide as their only option.

Landry became unable to work in his 50s, after suffering three strokes and developing epilepsy. When he no longer qualified for disability benefits at 65 years old, he applied for assisted suicide and is currently waiting for a second doctor to grant his application.

Suicide

He told The Van Maren Show that “I simply cannot afford to live. I cannot afford to maintain my disability”.

Canada legalised euthanasia in 2016, but has already scrapped the requirement for a person to be terminally ill and has only paused plans to expand it to those with mental health issues for another year following a public backlash.

Landry explained that he has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since childhood and attempted suicide several times, and although he is not seeking to die on mental health grounds, he may have done so at 18 years old if it had been permitted then.

He said: “I cannot remember the last time I went through the day without the thought of suicide”.

‘Radical expansions’

Last month, a Canadian parliamentary committee called for assisted suicide to be expanded to include children.

The Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) recommended that “mature minors” and “individuals whose sole underlying medical condition is a mental disorder” should be eligible.

Canadian MP Mark Strahl criticised the “reckless idea” to expand assisted suicide rather than protecting vulnerable people by offering the support they need.

The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition added: “Given the current state of Canada, where vulnerable people continue to be pressured [into] euthanasia on a frequent basis, it is inappropriate for the government to consider these radical expansions to the euthanasia law.”