Oops ... Cultural 'Misunderstanding'

"The fact that Mr. Govindbalunikam has been in Canada for more than 12 years demands that he would have been well aware of this country's cultural norms."

 "Any suggestion to the contrary -- especially for someone of Mr. Govindbalunikam's ability and experience -- would constitute willful blindness at the very least. As such, I reject the defence position that this case amounts to a 'cultural misunderstanding'."

"Simply put, the crime was of such a magnitude that giving this factor any meaningful weight would only serve to achieve exactly that which the Supreme Court of Canada cautioned against: It would create another, lighter sentencing regime for non-citizens."

"The import of this phenomenon is somewhat lessened by the fact that Mr. Govindbalunikam continues to minimize the offence as a 'cultural misunderstanding'." 

Judge Michael Varpio, Ontario Superior Court of Justice

Manoj Govindbalunikam leaves the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse after a sentencing hearing on Oct. 30, 2025. He was not wearing a mask during the hour-long hearing, but put one on as he was leaving the building.  Kenneth Armstrong/SooToday

 

On April 21, it was explained  at the trial of Manoj Govindbalunikan, 37, that the real estate broker had driven from Brampton where he lives as a permanent resident of Canada, to Thessalon, northern Ontario, with the intention to search for properties that might be for sale, in line with his real estate business. He was driving a yellow Chevrolet Camaro with black racing stripes, which would create an impression in the town, sufficient to draw attention that he was a stranger to the community, which bystanders would take casual note of.

 

His trip of August 15, 2023 included a sightseeing tour of the Thessalon River, where he approached a nine-year-old boy fishing at the river's edge. He struck up a conversation with the child, offering him a fidget spinner toy, while informing the boy that he was in the presence of a realtor. The boy left the area with his fishing gear, and Govindbalunikan just happened to be driving by when he stopped the boy to offer him a drive home, which the boy accepted. 

 

They started out from the Thessalon curling club where the boy was convinced that he should leave his bicycle and fishing gear there, both of which he could pick up at a later time, since there wasn't room in the vehicle for them to be transported. They drove to the nearby Sinton Tavern where an ice cream cone was bought for the boy. The boy was known to several people in the tavern who became suspicious since they failed to recognize the man with the boy.

 

"They got into their pickup truck and drove to the victim's residence. They spoke with the victim's father who indicated that he did not know anyone who had a yellow Camaro. The victim's father asked the pair for a ride to the location where they last saw the victim", Justice Varpio explained to the court. Mr. Govindbalunikam was enroute to the address the boy had given  him and once it was reached, the boy asked to be let out of the vehicle.

 

India-origin realtor convicted in Ontario court for abducting minor. Indian Express

 

While Mr. Govindbalunikam slowed down, he failed to stop and continued past the boy's home. Soon afterward the boy's father saw the Camaro driving down Federation Street and the couple driving the pickup truck pulled up beside the Camaro. "The father approached the driver's side of the Camaro. He observed the victim in the front passenger seat eating ice cream. As the father approached, Mr. Govindbalunikam pulled away."

 

That's when he father reeached into the vehicle to stop its further progress. Mr. Govindbalunikam explained that as a realtor he was looking for area houses, giving the father his business card. In turn the father told the realtor in no uncertain terms that he should leave the community, ordering his son to exit the vehicle. A day later, Ontario Provincial Police arrested Mr. Govindbalunikam.  

 

His cellphone was seized and found to contain a number of photos including one of himself and the boy alongside the Thessalon River, and another of the boy eating his ice cream cone in the Camaro. 

 

Having arrived in Canada in 2012, Mr. Govindbalunikam was granted permanent resident status in 2017. His professional education includes an aerospace engineering degree from India and a master's degree in  aerospace engineering from the University of Toronto. He was employed at one of the largest aerospace companies in Ontario from 2019 to 2023 but was dismissed and then laid off when a periodic criminal record check by the company revealed a record of malfeasance. 

 

At trial, Govindbalunikam apologized to the boy and his parents, explaining that his intention was to be  helpful in offering the boy a ride back home.  Justice Varpio decided on a sentence of 18 months in prison and three years' probation. Despite that the Crown had asked for a term of 18 months in jail, the lawyer representing Mr. Govindbalunikam argued for a conditional discharge which would enable her client to avoid deportation, since a jail sentence of six months or longer would make him inadmissible to Canada and mark him eligible for deportation..   

 

 

 

The Russian Roulette of Ultra-Processed Foods

"To put our findings in perspective, a 10 percent increase in ultra-processed foods is roughly equivalent to adding a standard packet of chips to your daily diet."

"In clinical terms, this translated to consistently lower scores on standardized cognitive tests measuring visual attention and processing speed."

"Food ultra-processing often destroys the natural structure of food and introduces potentially harmful substances like artificial additives or processing chemicals."

"These additives suggest the link between diet and cognitive function extends beyond just missing out on foods known as healthy, pointing to mechanisms linked to the degree of food processing itself."

Dr. Barbara Cardoso, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Victorian Heart Institute, Monash University, Australia 

Adding ultraprocessed foods may add to risk of dementia  Getty Images

 

A  diet high in ultra-processed foods (UPFs), according to a new study from Monash University in Australia, may increase the risk of developing dementia. Published in the journal Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, the study analyzed over 2,100 Australians for their diets and cognitive health. The study group was comprised of dementia-free adults between ages 40 to 70 from November of 2015 to December of 2023.

 

A daily increase of as minimal as 10 percent of ultra-processed foods in an intake alongside healthy whole foods was demonstrated to be linked to a drop in attention span, irrespective of an otherwise healthy overall diet. Based on the average food intake of the Australian population, a 10 percent increase in UPF corresponds, according to the study, to approximately 150 g/day.

 

Ultra-processed foods contain ingredients such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, fats and artificial colouring, all of which alter the composition of whole foods with their addition as they go through multiple processing techniques such as moulding and extrusion. These food products include potato chips, energy drinks, hotdogs, fast food and  candy, among many others.

 

According to research in Canada conducted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation, close to half of people's daily caloric intake represent ultra-processed foods. Higher UPF consumption, the new study affirms, is linked to an increase in risk factors for developing dementia. Health conditions such as high blood pressure and obesity are also included as health risks due to the consumption of UPFs.  

 

Ultra-processed foods. Credit:Lauri Patterson/Getty Images

 

Each 10-precent increase in UPF intake was associated with lower attention scores and higher dementia risk even among people who adhered otherwise to a healthy Mediterranean-style diet, according to the study results. A direct association between UPFs and memory loss however, did not result from the study findings, which noted that attention span signals many vital brain functions such as learning and problem-solving.

 

Ultra-processed food consumption has been associated to date, with over 30 adverse health outcomes, noted the research out of Monash University. The recently published study results add to a growing body of research that link UPF consumption to adverse brain health. 

 

Harald Walker / Stocksy United

 

Dangerously Psychotic Yet He Lives Free To Reoffend

"He reported not having consumed alcohol beforehand but did use crystal methamphetamine, along with two or three joints of cannabis."

"He reported hearing voices both with and without the use of crystal methamphetamine, but they became worse when he used the substance."

"Counsel for all parties agreed that Mr. Pillar represented a significant threat to public safety [and that his ban on] the non-medical use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances [should be dropped]."

"[In the years before the stabbing he was the subject of] multiple Community Treatment Orders, during which Mr. Pillar continued to use drugs and alcohol and was non-compliant with his prescribed medication and appointments."

"The history also includes several attempts at mental health diversion for various criminal charges. His reported symptoms, when unwell, included command auditory hallucinations to kill both men and women, but chiefly women." 

Ontario Review Board

 

"In a significant legal decision, the Ontario Review Board lifted a drug ban for Richard P. Pillar, who was found not criminally responsible for a violent incident in Windsor. On September 28, 2016."

"At approximately 11 a.m., 83-year-old Rina Campagna was attacked and severely injured by Pillar near a bank."

"The attack, which occurred in Windsor, Ontario, left Campagna with the loss of an eye. Pillar, who suffers from multiple mental health disorders, was under the influence of drugs at the time."

UL Lawyers Professional Corporation 

Photograph of assaulted 83-year-old woman being taken to hospital by paramedics. Photo: Postmedia

 

Found not criminally responsible after stabbing an 83-year-old stranger in the eye, an Ontario man has had his drug ban lifted, despite that he had used crystal methamphetamine and smoked two or three joints of cannabis beforehand. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, social anxiety disorder and substance use disorder, Richard P. Pillar, with his anti-social personality disorder and borderline intellectual functioning was found, at trial, not criminally responsible of aggravated assault after his attack on Rina Campagna.

 

Walking unaccompanied to a Windsor bank on September 28, 2016, the elderly woman was accosted by Pillar from behind, and brought to the ground. Her assailant took hold of the woman's head and with a knife, stabbed one of her eyes. Ms. Campagna was left with severe injuries that included loss of the injured eye, pointed out the independent tribunal tasked with reviewing the status of individuals found not criminally responsible for violent crimes they commit. 

 

Witnesses at the scene recounted seeing Pillar discarding his clothing as he fled the area. An arrest took place within the day. Pillar had been bound by two probation orders which prohibited him from weapons possession, at the time of the attack on the woman. Neither victim nor attacker were known to one another. Pillar informed authorities that he deliberately withheld taking his antipsychotic injection two weeks previous to the attack. "He wanted to see what it was like if he did not take the medication", the ORB decision noted. 

 

In this Sept. 28, 2016, file photo, Windsor police, paramedic and fire emergency response crews converge in the 1300 block of Ottawa Street following a brutal stabbing attack on an elderly woman. Photo by Jason Kryk /Windsor Star

 

"I no longer feel safe and secure doing my daily routine like shopping, visiting people or going to church."

"[I've missed important family events], because I thought I looked like a monster. I don’t feel good about myself anymore."

"I say no to a lot of friends asking me to come over because I am afraid to walk alone and I have a hard time talking in a group back and forth with one eye and double vision."

"And I am so scared that if he ever gets out he might come back to attack me again."

Victim Impact Statement, Rina Campagna  

The day previous to Pillar's attack on Ms. Campagna he had made a failed effort  to attack another pedestrian, but his aim was deflected. He was given a discharge by the ORB in March of 2025 with conditions attached, that he report to a  hospital at least twice monthly, "abstain from intoxicants, submit samples for analysis [and] refrain from the possession of weapons". At the time Pillar had lived for four years in the community with no recorded hospital readmissions.

 

Now 37, Pillar lives alone in a subsidized one-bedroom apartment in St. Thomas, Ontario. The psychiatric medical team that has been overseeing his conditions advised the Review Board that they're in the process of preparing Pillar to be discharged from the forensic system, and recommends a removal of the 'abstain' clause from his disposition. 

 

Mental health issues and criminal behaviour marked Pillar's early life, beginning when he started using alcohol at age nine, cannabis at age 11, cocaine at age 14, and crystal methamphetamine at age 25. In April 2017, in pretrial detention, he struck a correctional officer, stating that voices instructed him to hit correctional staff. Months following his hospital admission as a result of the stabbing, he attacked a nursing station where a female staff member had retreated when he became angry.  

 

Police investigate area on Ottawa Street where Richard Pillar stabbed an 83 year-old woman in 2016. (CBC File)

 

"He ... continued to fixate on the [female medical] staff member, stating that he wanted to kill her. He also threatened to stab someone in the eye and kill them if he gained weight from his injection of antipsychotic medication."

"He was placed in seclusion and later tried to grab a female staff member through an opening in the seclusion room door."

"[A resurgence of symptoms], resulting from medication ineffectiveness of non-adherence, substance use, or all three, is likely to have very serious consequences."

"That history, including but not limited to the index offences, involves acting on command hallucinations directing him to harm or kill people."

Ontario Review Board 

Mexico's Disappeared

"What we want is to find the disappeared. And we are reinforcing the institutions of the Mexican State to better prevent and respond to this tragic crime."

"We reaffirm our commitment. We will continue searching for all missing persons until we find them."

"Our obligation is to continue looking for everyone, for every person."

"And, at the same time, to eradicate this crime. There should be no more disappeared in Mexico."

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum

 

"The idea that forced disappearances don’t happen, or that most disappearances are related to voluntary absences, minimizes the responsibility of the state."

"Limiting the number of missing persons to 43,128 minimizes the magnitude of a crisis that has a human face and that won’t be solved through administrative searches."

Centro Prodh human rights group

 

"We are reverting once again to the idea that only those with case files at the public prosecutor’s office will be considered."

"There is deep mistrust of the prosecutors’ offices; there is significant collusion between these offices and criminal groups – that’s common knowledge."

Rosalva Aída Hernández Castillo, Mexican anthropologist 

Mothers gather outside Banorte Stadium before the Mexico v Portugal match in Monterrey on 28 March, asking for justice for their missing loved ones. Photograph: Franco Uriel Pérez Ramírez/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

 

Volunteer search teams last year discovered an abandoned ranch where inexplicably a multitude of shoes were found. To the search teams this was evidence of an extermination camp operated by a drug cartel. When charred human remains were found there as well, Mexican authorities went into denial mode, insisting that the Izaguirre ranch in Jalisco, western Mexico, was actually a training camp for new recruits of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, the most powerful of Mexico's many criminal groups.

 

Dissatisfied with the outcome of the investigation, volunteers returned to the site to continue searching for answers and another disturbing discovery was revealed. There, they found a septic pit stuffed with human teeth and bone fragments. Yet another discovery consolidating the inescapable reality of an ongoing grim chapter in Mexico. Over 133,000 people have vanished across the country and Mexican authorities have gone out of their way fruitlessly to solve the situation, then resorted to minimizing it and finally denying its existence.

People hold pictures of missing persons in front of the National Palace during the commemoration of the International Day of the Disappeared in Mexico City, on 30 August 2019. Photograph: Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images

 

The fact that Mexicans have been struggling with, in an ongoing effort to stem the tide of the disappeared -- or at the very least comprehend how and why it is occurring -- hoping for a clue that might direct them toward prevention focuses on the reality that tens of thousands of people have disappeared in the past several decades, and the suspects causing these sudden absences in civil society are organized crime, aided and abetted by colluding government officials. 

 

President Claudia Sheinbaum has sworn to pursue justice until such time as the mystery of these wholesale disappearances has been brought to a conclusion. The rate at which the government has moved in an effort to solve the frighteningly deadly situation has been glacial and ineffective in the opinion of government critics. Societal condemnation of government has placed new pressure on the president for the urgent need of greater progress.

 

According to government statistics, homicides have dropped by 41 percent under this administration, while the number of missing persons has more than doubled since 2015. Prosecutors have been mandated by the president to open an investigation once a disappearance report has been received. A nationwide emergency alert system was launched to respond to missing person reports. Nonetheless controversy has followed these initiatives.

 

A person runs along the Sunday bike route in front of a section of the metal guardrail at the so-called “Roundabout of the Disappeared,” plastered with photographs of missing persons, in Mexico City.

(Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)

 

An audit to review the national disappearance registry was ordered in the wake of the Izaguirre ranch discovery, with a goal to ensure accurate data collection. Created in 2018, the registry merged lists from state prosecutors, search commissions and volunteers, an assimilation difficult to analyze. "There were no standards, no methodology", stated security official overseeing the effort, Marcela Figueroa. The total of 130,000 entries were divided into three groups by Ms. Figueroa's research team. Given the lack of information, argued the government, searching for one set of the missing would be impossible.

 

One third of the entries were categorized as individuals who had been reported missing, but who had been found to have married, filed taxes or received vaccinations. Of the remaining 43,600 people of whom nothing had been heard from after being reported missing, sufficient information exists to enable continued searches. This conclusion drew mixed reactions from the concerned public with some researchers claiming government failed to make its data public and as such, verifying the audit's accuracy was not possible.  

"I want to give a vote of confidence."

"The problem is they can show whatever figures they want, but if there's no evidence to back them up, it's going to be really hard to defend what they're doing." 

Fernando Escobar, researcher, Common Cause, Mexico 

Forestry workers scrape soil looking for evidence of human remains during a massive, multi-agency search through Cumbres del Ajusco National Park, which sits south of Mexico City. (Jorge Barrera/CBC)

 

Staggering Death Toll in Sudanese Conflict

"This grim and chastening anniversary marks another year when the world has failed to meet the test of Sudan."

"Sudan is an atrocities laboratory: sieges, denial of food, weaponized sexual violence."

Tom Fletcher, emergency relief coordinator, United Nations 

 

"He [young man who came to the morgue] was looking for his father and his uncle for over a year. When he came to us, he found out they had both been shot dead in the street in the early weeks of the war. It broke him, he collapsed and cried for a long time." 

"We photograph every body. We check if there's anything in their pockets to help us identify them, and we mark the spot where we buried them."

Ali Gebbai, mortician, makeshift morgue, Khartoum 

 

"[Khartoum has turned into an open-air morgue]. That leaves a mark on society, it destroys human dignity and it normalizes death."  

"The safest place to keep the DNA samples is buried separately in the ground, and marked clearly. Or we'll exhume the bodies again later."  

Hisham Zein al-Abdeen, head of forensic medicine, Sudan's health ministry

This photo taken on April 18, 2026 shows Sudanese Ali Gebbai, a volunteer responsible for handling burial procedures for unidentified bodies in the capital, Khartoum, examines one of the unidentified corpses at the mortuary of Omdurman's Al-Nao Educational Hospital. (AFP)

 

 The war in Sudan has now officially passed its three-year anniversary, since the Sudanese military and he paramilitary Rapid Support Forces opposed one another, bringing the nation to a war that shows no sign of abating, with an estimated 200,000 Sudanese having been killed thus far. This conflict represents a poster of the world's largest humanitarian crisis. A conference in Berlin on April 15 to raise aid funds and call attention to the conflict, doesn't appear to have made much of a global impact on news reportage.

 

Entering its fourth year, widespread displacement, violence and hunger has burdened the population with no end in sight, while the world's attention remains fixed on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Israeli response in Gaza to Palestinian terrorism, and more latterly the joint U.S.-Israel aerial bombardment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with the closure of the Strait of Hormuz taking world headlines. 

 

Even so, the Iran conflict which has impacted rising fuel and fertilizer prices throughout the globe, has also compounded the severe food crisis experienced in Sudan. The Norwegian Refugee Council's latest report stated that the violence had "systematically eroded Sudan's food system -- field by field, road by road, market by market -- producing mass hunger."  

 

Photo: Southern Sudan city of Rabak after a drone strike hit several vehicles belonging to the Joint Forces, including some carrying weapons and ammunition, which caught fire. AP

 

The fierce fighting between the two antagonists -- both of which have been accused of vicious human rights violations, preying on helpless civilian populations -- have forced 14 million people from their homes. Arable fields  have been left untended as farmers abandon their growing crops in the face of danger from land mines and cross-fire from faceoffs by the two opponents. While harsh conditions for farming lead to a steep rise in food prices, incomes have declined and malnutrition stalks the land. 

 

Sudan's 50 million population is starved of food with over 10 million people suffering severe and extreme levels of food insecurity, while some 20 million more are confronted by shortages of basic foodstuffs in a  wartime economy. Millions of people sustain themselves with one meal daily in the two areas hardest hit by the conflict -- North Darfur and South Kordofan. According to the Norwegian Refugee Council report, desperately hungry people are left with little option but to eat foliage and animal feed for survival.   

 

 Destroyed section of Omduran, Sudan, AP

 

The ongoing crisis in Sudan is considered by aid agencies to represent the world's most critical, based on hunger and displacement. "Hunger and violence are reinforcing each other in a vicious cycle of desperation", stated deputy executive director Carl Skau, of the World Food Program.

 

Gold production and trade enables the warring competitors to finance their war with the abundant natural resources in gold that lie in deposits across the country. The conflict is also being supported by foreign powers supplying weapons to both sides. Sudan's economy has been destroyed, its health system collapsed 

 

Widespread violence against women is rife, most Sudanese children are without educational opportunities, and tens of thousands of children have died in this war. The civilian death toll is put at over 22,000 by the Sudanese health ministry, but some estimates see that number swell as  high as 400,000. 

 

As donors gather in Berlin, tens of millions in Sudan face famine, genocide and displacement   Health Policy Watch

 

 

An Attack on the Future of the Nation

"The emergence of an aggressive stance among parts of society, which can lead to conflicts, is a serious issue."

"There are indirect indications that these sentiments are being fuelled by Russia, and that a firm response is needed."

"In this way, a line of division -- a fault line of conflict -- is being provoked within our society." 

"There is no split in Ukrainian society. [However], there is tension regarding military recruitment centers, regarding mobilization, and unfortunately this tension is growing."

"Unfortunately, there is clear corruption and excessive use of violence." 

Volodymyr Fensenko, head, Penta Research Institute, Kyiv

 

"On the one hand, everyone says we must fight until victory, and on the other hand, everyone is running away from mobilization."

"This is a huge, enormous problem.Wars are not won without people. Without people, wars are lost, that does happen."

"But winning without people -- that simply doesn't exist."

Kyrylo Budanov, former head, military intelligence agency, Ukraine   

Ukraine has struggled to build a steady pipeline of recruits to replenish its frontline units, many of whom are exhausted defending against a larger Russian army. 

 

Allegiance to Ukraine in its existential struggle against Vladimir Putin's 'special military operation' is seemingly in short supply of late, as young and old Ukrainian men seek to avoid conscription simply by not responding when they're drafted. As the first shock of the February invasion in 2022 stunned the population there was no end of volunteers committed to defending their country against the Russian military ordered by the Kremlin to respond to 'threats from Ukraine' issued by its 'neo-Nazi' government. As the war wore on, that eagerness to defend also wore out.

 

Military draft officers in Ukraine are now facing violent resistance from the very men they're tasked to check on. And this resistance is occurring in the west of Ukraine, where there are vanishingly few Russian-speaking Ukrainians whose loyalties are split between Ukraine and Russia. A rising number of incidents where draft officers in the commission of their duties are facing resistance against mobilization has created tensions within Ukrainian society. 

 

The Ukrainian military stands at about 900,000 servicemen, many of whom have been mired in frontline fighting, and are overdue for rest and recuperation, but face the reality that replacements are hard to come by. The issue of  recalcitrant loyalties from a public tired of a war entering its fifth year is a bedevilling one. Who will rescue Ukraine from the military talons of Russia, if not Ukrainians themselves? Yet the situation is so tight, military authorities in Ukraine have taken to persuading foreigners to join their ranks.

 

The critical issue of rotation, to relieve overworked and exhausted Ukrainian soldiers in dire need of a break is an emergency looking for rescue. Russia's population, four times that of Ukraine's, doubtless reflects a similar situation which is why, infamously, prison inmates in Russia were drafted with the promise their crimes leading to imprisonment would be absolved with their agreement to lend themselves to the war effort.

 

While Ukraine continues to confront the Russian threat, their nemesis Putin has taken to paying rich financial bonuses and salaries as persuasion for 30,000 to 40,000 men each month to sign on to army contracts to replenish the forces sent to Ukraine killed on the battlefield in huge numbers. When the Russian draft of 2022 was implemented, hundreds of thousands of eligible fighting men fled Russia for abroad, and haven from the conflict's enlistment enforcement.  

 

An army recruitment center in Lviv, Ukraine. Assaults on military recruiters in the country almost tripled to 341 last year compared with 2024, and more than 100 have been recorded so far this year. Bloomberg.com

 

Ukraine relies on conscription and appeals to patriotism. Under its martial law, all Ukrainian men between ages 25 and 60 are eligible for military service unless they have an exemption; otherwise they are sent a draft notice. According to official data,  some  two million men in Ukraine are held to have violated the rules of conscription, leading to their being sought out by police. As a result of widespread evasion of joining the military, there is anger among those serving and the families of troops who are under arms, defending Ukraine.

 

In fear of a popular backlash, government and parliament hesitate to tighten conscription, and so look to foreign fighters and identifying personnel in Ukraine's military ranks positioned in the rear, for deployment to combat in the frontlines, to help with the needed rotation. Draft dodgers are being hunted at their homes, workplaces and in the streets, which has led to conflict spilling onto social media and dividing opinion; some supporting the draft officers, others the men who evade their military responsibilities. 

 

In early April, a conscription officer was stabbed to death in the city of Lviv, the assailant striking the officer from behind, thrusting the dagger into his neck while  the officer's attention was elsewhere. "When the law is broken and no one is held accountable, it will be broken more often. This is, first, an attack on the life of a Ukrainian soldier, and second, an attack on the future of the nation", stated Mykola Melnyk, a Ukrainian military veteran. 

 

Police checking civilians documents for military recruitment check a disabled man's documents at a train station in Dnipro, Ukraine. (Ed Ram/For The Washington Post/Getty Images)

 

 

MAiD for Mental Illness in Canada

"I and other colleagues are experiencing this: People are clearly getting MAID [Medical Assistance in Dying] for reasons that are frankly illegal."

"Suicide contagion is a well-proven reality. Don't pretend that it won't happen in Canada.:

"For the last 23 years, I've treated patients that other psychiatrists told me could not get better, and they get better."

"Suffering can always be reduced ... There is absolutely no such thing as 'everything has been tried'."

Dr. John Maher, psychiatrist specializing in treating severe mental illness 

Angus Reid Institute

 

"Under the guise of flimsy medical excuses", people suffering mental illnesses are already receiving assisted deaths in Canada, and others seeking MAID will "doctor-shop until dead" should euthanasia be extended under law to encompass psychiatric suffering alone, cautioned Dr. John Maher testifying before a Parliamentary committee of enquiry comprised of MPs and Senators. Should medical assistance in dying be seen as a legitimate option for mental suffering, he warned, the risk of a "suicide contagion" effect is high.

 

It's called the Werther Effect, referring to a notable increase in suicides following publicized reports of suicides among celebrities. In jurisdictions that have legalized doctor-assisted death, Dr. Maher pointed out, rates of suicide "have risen much faster after it was legalized, than before." 

 

Conflicting reports pro and con have been presented to the committee over the safety of MAID eligibility expansion to individuals having mental illness in isolation from any other medical conditions; a controversial topic that includes whether or how a mental disorder might be considered to be incurable and thus qualifying for MAID.  

"People are getting MAID for psychiatric reasons  under the guise of flimsy medical excuses."

"Prolific MAID providers are happy to assist with suicide while people are on wait-lists for effective treatment, [and] MAID is being offered to veterans, disabled people and people with very treatable illnesses." 

"People need lifeguards, not someone to push you under."

Dr. John Maher  

In 2023, urgent requests for same-day assessments and provision [less than 24 hours] were reported in Ontario, speaking to the possibility of impulsive decision-making on the part of people with mental disorders willing and determined to end their lives, under the influence of their mental delirium. This, in a background of long wait times for appointments with mental-health professionals in Canada's overworked health care system. 

 

"You're describing criminal misconduct, are you not, when you describe mental health as already qualifying people in the eyes of some assessors and providers for MAID?", asked one of the Members of Parliament on the committee. "I absolutely am", responded Dr. Maher. He informed the committee of his attempts to report his concerns with a doctor, to a provincial professional accreditation college and the response was "until the patient is dead, there is no malpractice".

 

And then, there were the counterarguments, as when University of Ottawa law professor Daphne Gilbert spoke of a small "very limited" number of people ultimately qualifying for MAID solely for mental illness. "This matters, because one justification for continued exclusion is the speculative claim that large numbers of people will become eligible if the ban is lifted. There is no evidence to support that claim." 

"[Denying MAID to those with mental illness is predicated on the belief that they lack decision-making capacity and] must be protected from themselves and that their suffering is somehow less real, or less serious."

"In 2026, we are reinforcing historic stigma and paternalistic assumptions. The law continues to infantilize those with mental illness."

Professor Daphne Gilbert, vice-chair, Dying with Dignity Canada