In Canada, access to medical care can take months. Access to assisted suicide, however, is much easier to come by.
Ten years ago today, Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program was legalized, and this year, Canada is on track to surpass 100,000 assisted-suicide deaths. Earlier this year, an Ontario physician met a 45-year-old man outside a Tim Hortons restaurant to assess his eligibility for euthanasia. After approving him for MAID, the doctor drove him to the facility where the procedure was carried out.
Americans should pay attention. Progressive lawmakers — including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) — continue to treat Canadian-style single-payer health care as ideal policy. But as our northern neighbor proves, when the government is put in charge of apportioning scarce health-care resources, the costs are often quite tragic.
