RCMP asked to investigate multiple cases in which veterans were offered medically assisted death

Four, perhaps five, of Canada’s veterans were given the option of medically assisted death (MAID) by the now-suspended Veterans Affairs Canada caseworker, the country’s veterans minister told a House committee late Thursday. Told.

Lawrence MacAulay said the matter has now been turned over to the RCMP for investigation and an internal review of his department is underway.

Macaulay told the Veterans Affairs Commission, “While we expect all veterans affairs candidates to treat veterans with care, compassion and respect, the actions of this one employee are simply “And I condemn this behavior in the strongest terms.”

He went on to say that there was “no way to justify” the actions and did not intend to defend the employees.

Last summer, Global News first reported a case in which a veteran claimed to have been pressured by a veteran’s caseworker to consider medically assisted death.

This prompted MacAulay to order an internal investigation, which uncovered a total of four cases in which veterans were allegedly provided with MAID.

Earlier Thursday, the National Post reported on a possible fifth case involving a member of the military who told the podcast Tango Romeo In November of last year, he was unexpectedly offered MAID by a caseworker.

Macaulay told the all-party committee that the recent revelations were not among the cases his staff uncovered, and veterans who spoke on the podcast would come forward and contact him or the deputy minister directly. I urged

“We are confident that this is all related to one employee, and is not a widespread or organizational issue.

Blake Richards, a Conservative MP and deputy chairman of the Veterans Affairs Commission, questioned whether the minister and the VA had clear instructions on the scope of the problem.

Cause of alarm, Rep. Tory says

The fact that a fifth case may have escaped the attention of the departmental review is cause for alarm, he said.

“In that case, either something was overlooked in this investigation, or another employee was involved,” Richards said. In both cases, it is a concern.”

Based on what he’s seen, Richard believes the VA “has not been thorough enough in its investigation.”

He said that could mean “we need an outside investigation.”

MacAulay told the committee what his department knew so far, and the first case uncovered last summer was when a caseworker sought help for post-traumatic stress. He repeatedly pushed the concept of MAID to an unnamed veteran who called.

The second reported case occurred last May, when the same caseworker provided a veteran with information about an assisted death.

Another incident is said to have occurred in December 2021, MacAulay said. It involved a veteran who contacted the department to ask questions about MAID. The commission had already heard testimony about that event at a hearing last month.

minister apologizes

A fourth known case appeared to have occurred in 2019, when a veteran called the VAC specifically asking for information on assisted suicide.

Macaulay apologized.

“We are sorry that we had to endure such a horrific exchange and we are doing everything we can to prevent something like this from happening again,” the minister said.