Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the discussion about medical assistance in dying (MAiD) between a veteran and a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) employee is “completely unacceptable.”
Speaking in Stephenville, NL, on Tuesday during a trip with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Trudeau said the incident, which has sparked anger at the government department assigned to support former military personnel, is being investigated.
“This is not the duty of care we owe to veterans,” the prime minister told reporters.
“There is a full investigation into how this happened and we will make sure it never happens again.”
Read more: Ottawa orders ‘full and thorough’ investigation into veterans’ assisted dying debate
The remarks were Trudeau’s first since Global News reported on Aug. 16 that a VAC service agent had brought up medically assisted dying, unprompted, during a conversation with a combat veteran seeking treatment for to post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. .
Story continues below ad
Global News is not identifying the veteran who sought treatment due to privacy concerns, but has spoken directly with the individual, who says the service agent brought up MAiD repeatedly, even after the veteran asked the service agent let it stop
The veteran said he felt pressured as a result.
3:08 Canadian veteran felt ‘pressured’ to consider medically assisted dying Canadian veteran felt ‘pressured’ to consider medically assisted dying
VAC said last week it was investigating the matter and promised “appropriate administrative action” would be taken, without providing further details.
On August 19, a spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay said the minister “has directed his deputy minister to undertake a full and thorough investigation into this matter”.
MacAulay also directs that “all front-line staff at Veterans Affairs Canada receive formal training, direction and advice on how to address MAiD-related issues,” the statement added.
Trending stories
-
Random COVID-19 testing at Canada border forces uninfected travelers to quarantine
-
‘Mind-boggling’: ERs large and small across Canada struggle amid staffing crunch
Story continues below ad
The department and its staff do not have the ability to provide the resources for assisted dying, which under Canadian law can only be discussed between a primary care provider such as a doctor or psychiatrist and their patient.
Read more: ‘Deny, delay, die’: Debate over assisted dying renews warnings about gaps in care for veterans
Veterans’ advocates have raised serious concerns about the mental health impact of even bringing up the topic with veterans, especially those already suffering from traumatic brain injuries and PTSD.
Conservatives have called for a public inquiry into the incident to determine whether MAiD’s offer was made to any other veterans seeking care, and whether any veterans acted on that suggestion.
Anti-racism consultant’s tweets ‘reprehensible’
Trudeau was also asked about the other controversy swirling around his government, after Ottawa suspended funding for an anti-racism project over what have been called anti-Semitic tweets by a senior consultant involved in the ‘strategy.
Story continues below ad
The prime minister also called the comments “absolutely unacceptable” as well as “reprehensible” and vowed that his government would press for further action.
“We will continue to monitor, because this is not something we can accept as a government,” he said.
0:26 Trudeau calls comments by consultant hired by Ottawa-funded anti-racism group “reprehensible” Trudeau calls comments by consultant hired by Ottawa-funded anti-racism group “reprehensible”
The Community Media Advocacy Centre, which had been tasked with building an anti-racism strategy for Canadian broadcasting, had received $133,000 from the Heritage Department that has now been frozen, Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen said Monday.
Hussen called the tweets sent by Laith Marouf, a senior consultant on the project, anti-Semitic and “reprehensible and vile”. He asked the center to explain how they hired Marouf and how they plan to rectify the situation.
Marouf’s lawyer draws a distinction between his client’s tweets about people he calls “Jewish white supremacists” and Jews in general, saying Marouf has no animosity toward the Jewish faith as a collective group.
Story continues below ad
Read more: Ottawa focuses funding for anti-racism project over consultant’s ‘vile’ tweets
A screenshot of one of Marouf’s tweets reads: “You know all those loud-mouthed bags of human excrement aka Jewish white supremacists; when we liberate Palestine and they have to go back where they came from, they will go back to being the silent dogs of their (sic) Christian/secular white supremacist masters.”
Trudeau was wrapping up a three-day trip with Scholz that included the signing of a hydrogen supply agreement and meetings with Canadian and German business leaders.
— with files from Global News’ Mercedes Stephenson and Amanda Connolly
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.