‘No Evidence’ Veterans Were Offered Unsolicited Assisted Suicide by Federal Department, Minister Says

Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence Lawrence MacAulay rises during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on March 25, 2022. Patrick Doyle/The Canadian Press

Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay says there is “no evidence” that medically assisted death was ever offered unprompted, or suggested to veterans or their families, by Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).

The minister’s statement, which responded to an order paper question issued by Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant, comes less than two months after a VAC worker who allegedly suggested assisted suicide to military veterans left her position at the federal department.

VAC has not disclosed whether the female employee was fired or resigned, but she was initially suspended after reports emerged of her allegedly offering unsolicited Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) to veterans.

“VAC is aware that some veterans have died as a result of using the legislated process for MAID,” said MacAulay in his response to Gallant on Jan. 30, adding that VAC was not responsible.

“There is no evidence that MAID was ever discussed inappropriately with these veterans or the families by any VAC employee. A thorough and manual deep-dive review was conducted on each instance, including references to medical assistance in dying, file reviews and discussions with VAC employees who potentially had interactions with the veterans.”

MacAulay said VAC “reviewed and analyzed 402,000 unique client files dating back to 2016,” but found no evidence of unsolicited MAiD being offered to veterans.

‘One Single Employee’

MacAulay previously appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, where he said his department was aware of four allegations of veterans being offered unsolicited MAiD by a VAC employee.

The minister told the committee on Nov. 24, 2022, that all alleged unsolicited offers of MAiD to veterans by his department came from “one single employee,” who at the time was no longer working as a case manager with veterans.

“We remain confident that this is all related to one single employee and is not a widespread or a systemic issue,” he said.

A retired Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) corporal named Mark Meincke earlier told the same committee that he had spoken with one of the anonymous veterans who was allegedly offered unsolicited MAiD over the phone by a VAC employee.

Meincke later hosted on an episode of his podcast a veteran going by the pseudonym “Bruce” who also alleged being offered “completely unprompted“ MAiD by a VAC employee.

MacAulay told the Commons veterans affairs committee on Nov. 24 that he was unaware of that specific case.

“I would ask [Bruce] to please contact us,” MacAulay said.

Meincke told The Epoch Times in an interview on Feb. 15 that MacAulay seems to be “flipping and flopping” in terms of his admissions on veterans being offered MAiD by VAC.

“He [MacAulay] is saying two things at the same time that are diametrically opposed,” said Meincke.

“They [VAC] keep contradicting themselves.”

Marnie Cathcart contributed to this report.