Statistics show at least 744 people died in the first six months after legalization
By Agnieszka Krawczynski
VANCOUVER
The numbers of Canadians who have died by assisted suicide since it became legal are startling many observers, including a provincial health minister who predicted much lower figures.
At least 744 adults received a doctor’s help in dying between June 17 (11 days after the procedure was made legal) and Dec. 16, according to CTV News. That works out to about four Canadians a day.
“I know that it will increase,” said Vancouver physician Ellen Wiebe, who assisted in at least 40 of those deaths.
“I expect that we’ll get to the point of the Netherlands and Belgium because their laws are similar to ours, and that would mean about five per cent of all deaths,” Wiebe told CTV.
While the numbers don’t seem to surprise Wiebe, they surprised politicians such as Gaetan Barrette, Quebec’s health minister, earlier this year.
“A year ago, two years ago, I mentioned many times that I was expecting about 100″ deaths in Quebec’s first six months with the new legislation, he said at a press conference in October.
Yet between December 2015, when the practice was legalized in that province, and August 2016, 262 people died under the new law.
“It’s almost three times that,” Barrette said. “That, in itself, is surprising to me.” The number of deaths in Quebec is now estimated at about 300.
Statistics show that as of Dec. 16, 2016, 180 people received assisted suicide in Ontario, 154 in B.C., 63 in Alberta, 18 in Manitoba, and eight in Saskatchewan. Another 16 had died in Nova Scotia by Oct. 31.
Four people received assisted suicide in Newfoundland and Labrador. No assisted deaths were reported for P.E.I. or the Northwest Territories. Other provinces did not release their statistics.
Health Canada has not yet released a comprehensive report of assisted suicide deaths in the country; that is expected this fall.
