Assisting Prisoner Death in Canadian Penal System

"Canada is becoming the only country in the world that sanctions MAID [Medical Assistance in Dying] in a correctional facility."

"Corrections should not be in the business of shortening the lives of individuals under their roof."

"The decisions to deny parole and then provide MAID in a prison setting seem out of step with the gravity, nature and length of this man's sentence [imprisoned for a non-violent offence]."

Ivan Zinger, Correctional Investigator of Canada

 

"After the death of an inmate through MAID, there is no requirement ... to convene a board of investigation or a mortality review."

"[A terminal illness is no longer required to qualify for MAID, and an inmate need only prove they have] enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to them and that cannot be relived under conditions that the inmate considers acceptable."

Correctional Service of Canada guidelines

"I've considered it already, because I've got [decades] in."

"I look at it, if they could say, 'OK, you're never getting out', this is something that I would do."

"That I would consider."

Anonymous prison inmate

The MAiD law legalized assisted death for Canadians 18 and older with terminal illnesses in 2016. It was expanded in 2021 to include those with serious and chronic physical conditions, even if that condition was non-life threatening.   Photo: APTN file

 

Canada generations ago wrote off death penalties expressing the opinion of most Canadians that capital punishment was not what was wanted of their government. What was considered unseemly for a liberal democracy in its regard for human life and refusal by the state to commit criminals to death, approving life sentences for serious federal crimes instead 61 years ago, has now been countered by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau through the legalization of assisted suicide.

While capital punishment remains forbidden, what is permitted now for the incarcerated in the federal prison system is medical assistance in dying. In the spirit of humane considerations for the welfare of the imprisoned and their quality of life the first three Canadian prison inmates who chose to die by assisted suicide were Indigenous. Compassion within the prison system mandated that they remain shackled during the MAID process.

Exact figures on the numbers of incarcerants who have chosen and been granted the 'right' to an assisted death are problematic since they are not subjected to the kind of scrutiny as would be done for other in-custody fatalities. Ivan Zinger, Correctional Investigator of Canada believes there could have occurred more deaths through euthanasia than what was reflected in the last official tally in March of 2022.

 

 (CSC) established its own guidelines for MAID

Details were released via an Access to Information request showing that 27 prisoners in total have made application for MAID in the last seven years. The country's rate of in-custody MAID is considerably beyond any other jurisdiction where assisted suicide is legal. Elsewhere, the procedure is either not carried out, or yields no more than one instance qualifying under special circumstances.

Belgium legalized assisted suicide in 2002 and granted euthanasia to a prisoner for the first time this year; a woman who murdered her five children had convinced Belgian authorities she was wracked by guilt and suicidal ideation to the extent that she met assisted death criteria. The event became a national legal controversy that peaked with a serial rapist and murderer-prisoner denied the country's "right to die" in 2015.

Canada legalized MAID in prisons in 2016. In Mr. Zinger's opinion as a vocal opponent of MAID in prisons, he  holds that the procedure as practised in Canadian prisons is "ethically wrong". In an annual report issued in 2020 Mr. Zinger detailed circumstances of one of Canada's first in-custody MAID death where the inmate was serving a two-year sentence for a non-violent offence. When he was diagnosed with a terminal illness he requested "compassionate parole". When it was denied he opted for MAID.

A mentally ill dangerous offender was granted assisted death under the condition that he "would threaten suicide if he was not provided MAID".  Any inmate can apply for MAID via a written request to prison health authorities. The prisoner is granted an "eligibility assessment" with an in-house health professional within five days. That professional could be the prison's resident doctor or nurse practitioner. If they pass the first assessment then referred to an outside physician or nurse for a second opinion, MAID can be approved.

Up to the moment the incarcerant seeking MAID is anesthetized in preparation for a lethal injection, they can withdraw consent. In a 2021 study, researcher Jessica Shaw of the University of Calgary examined the phenomenon of MAID in Canadian prisons, interviewing nine inmates on the topic. All dismissed concerns that prisoners would be pressured into MAID; half would consider assisted suicide as an alternative to serving a long sentence. 

Some 50 to 60 inmates die in prisons in Canada annually. Between 2000 and 2017, of 904 deaths, 66.7 percent were deemed from "natural causes". 

"For some extraordinary reason, Corrections (Services Canada) was able to get an exemption of that requirement [an investigative process]."

"We keep raising [the matter], but we don't have data and they don't have the obligation to provide us with data. And that's the problem." 

"If the provisions are extended to include mental illness, there could be a lot more people that become eligible [data from CSC indicates 75 per cent of those imprisoned federally have a current mental health diagnosis, while other studies show prison life itself can worsen mental health]."

"I believe that (CSC) should be reporting it in an open way...so that we can track it better and we can ensure that how it's being provided is in sync with the legislation and human dignity."

Ivan Zinger, Correctional Investigator of Canada

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