Roger Foley, 45, speaking on Zoom from his hospital bed in London, Ontario, has warned Canadian MPs that the Medical Assistance in Dying Law (MAID), set to be introduced soon, will result in vulnerable persons such as himself being coerced into assisted dying.

Speaking to Canadian MPs, Mr Foley explained that he had been billed $1,800 a day in hospital and would be forcibly discharged if he failed to pay, despite being unable to raise the necessary funds. Foley, who suffers from an incurable neurological disorder was also offered MAID as a possible future option, which he took as a “threat”.

Assisted dying would be “easier to access than safe and appropriate disability supports to live”, he pointed out, and he and others would accordingly feel “coerced” into opting for assisted suicide.

Using his own case as an example of the how many vulnerable patients would be obliged to choose death rather than life, Mr Foley implored the assembled committee not to “turn their backs” on the vulnerable and disabled.

MAID, or the C-14 Bill, is the government’s response to the Supreme Court’s ruling that repealed the federal prohibition on assisted dying.

SPUC comment

A SPUC spokesperson said: “Mr Foley’s plight is tragic. We hope that his plea to Canadian MPs not to put disabled Canadians at risk by leaving them no choice but to decide on assisted death will cause Canada to rethink this dangerous legislation.

"In 2015, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition on assisted dying violated the country’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. However, the question for those who support assisted suicide is what about the freedom of Mr Foley and other vulnerable persons to choose life over death?”

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