(LifeSiteNews) – A prominent pro-life researcher called out the Liberal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for handing out more than $3 million to a pro-euthanasia advocacy group.
A search on the government of Canada’s website pertaining to grants and contributions shows that the pro-euthanasia Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers (CAMAP) received $3,287,996 in government money in 2021 in a grant that expires on March 31, 2025.
By comparison, the same group in 2018 received only $41,480. That was two years after Canada legalized euthanasia, or Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).
The large funding to CAMAP was brought to light by researcher and pro-life blogger Patricia Maloney last month.
CAMAP calls itself an organization “made up of clinicians who provide MAiD services including assessment for eligibility and provision of MAiD itself.”
Maloney pointed out some quotes from donors to CAMAP, as noted on its website, which praised MAiD.
“Both of my parents benefited from your work. Thanks!” one donor said.
Another said, “My husband died with dignity thanks to MAiD. I am very thankful that this option was available.”
“I can’t possibly thank you enough for your most needed work and compassion,” yet another said.
Maloney noted on her “Run with Life” blog that “CAMAP joins the ranks of Dying with Dignity, our other national charity devoted to euthanasia. They are doing very well financially as I pointed out.”
“I’m pretty sure there is a much better use for this money that our government so lavishly dishes out to the death industry. How about we give some of those millions to the people who choose euthanasia because they can’t afford to keep living,” she observed.
The group Dying with Dignity, as noted by Maloney, got $1,653,893 in donations in 2021 along with $204,655 from the federal government in the same year.
Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, in a recent blog post noted that CAMAP issues “charitable tax-deductible receipts to their donors.”
He also said the “Euthanasia Prevention Coalition is not a charity because we are opposed to killing people.”
“Unlike the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, the highest paid employee at Dying with Dignity made between 160,000 – 199,000 in 2021.”
As both Dying with Dignity and CAMAP are newer charities, Maloney observed that funding to them from the federal government will most likely increase over the coming years.
Just recently, Schadenberg said that “killing” has now become a “business” in Canada in light of a recent report about a Quebec funeral home charging $700 for patients to partake in government-sanctioned, doctor-led suicide in a private “room.”
The Trudeau government legalized euthanasia in 2016, and since that time deaths have skyrocketed under the MAiD program. There has been a continued push to further expand who can qualify for state-sanctioned death.
The expansion to include MAiD to those suffering solely from mental illness came as part of the 2021 passage of Bill C-7, which also allowed the chronically ill – not just the terminally ill – to qualify for doctor-assisted death.
The mental illness expansion was originally set to take effect in March. However, after massive pushback from pro-life groups, conservative politicians and others, the Liberals under Trudeau delayed the introduction of the full effect of Bill C-7 until 2024 via Bill C-39, which became law on March 9.
The delay comes after numerous public scandals, including reports that veterans were being offered the fatal procedure by workers at Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC).
The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) has been trying to fight back against MAiD being expanded.
Recently, a private member’s Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) bill that would repeal the expansion of euthanasia laws to those suffering solely from mental illness got its first official debate in the House of Commons.
The bill – officially known as Bill C-314, “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying)” – was introduced in February by CPC MP Ed Fast. It received immediate praise from Canada’s top pro-life organization, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), after it passed its first reading.
Despite this, the expansion of euthanasia to those with mental illness will automatically become law in spring 2024, but because the date is more than a year away, there is a chance a new government could stop it.