Canada's Shame - You Need To Act - Call Your MP
Episode Stats
Harmful content
Misogyny
1
sentences flagged
Toxicity
8
sentences flagged
Hate speech
7
sentences flagged
Summary
In this episode, John talks about the dangers of assisted death for people with mental illness, and why you need to speak out against it. He also talks about a personal experience he had with a person with a mental illness who was close to ending their life.
Transcript
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Hi, it's John and welcome to the channel 358 a.m. Thursday, April the 23rd. I hope you're
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having a great start to your Thursday. I'm lifting my big blue mug of coffee today with
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my left hand because my big cat, Blue, is sitting and sleeping right there where my
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coffee normally sits. And in our house, cats get to sleep wherever they want. Nice to have
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you here today. And I'm going to ask you to do something today. You need to act on this. Not
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enough people are speaking out or paying attention to what's going on here. And I know you're aware
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of this. In a few moments, I'm going to tell you some deeply personal stories. No names will be
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mentioned, but these are things that have happened to me. And you may have similar experiences as
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well. And it hurts my heart, these things. I'll tell you about that in just a moment.
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On this channel over the last year, I've said on occasion that I think Canadians are self-righteous.
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And I've said this in relation to the United States of America.
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Canadians also think we're better than the United States because the United States allow people to have guns.
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We're not that way in Canada, but folks, we have state-sponsored violence here.
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That's absolutely disgusting, and you need to speak out against it.
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Canada risks suicide contagion if euthanasia is approved for mental illness, psychiatrist warns.
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Now, as far as MAID goes, medical assistance in dying, people call it dying with dignity.
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Very close person in my life decided to do this, elderly, very sick.
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The future didn't look very good, and they decided to do this.
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and at the time, I was torn, because, you know, the thing you think about doing is you think
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about fighting to the end. You don't want to give up, but I saw this person completely
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confident in what they were doing. There was no hesitation.
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They didn't want to go through what was coming.
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I've also had experience with mental illness in my life.
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And this person has been very close to ending their life.
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And it's very, very difficult when you're dealing with this kind of thing.
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And if this legislation goes through, I think about what would happen
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if this very close person in my life was given this option a number of years ago.
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I'm going to play a short clip of a video that Andrew put up
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and a link to Andrew's video in the description,
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I'm Andrew Lawton, the Conservative Member of Parliament
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It's one I almost wasn't here to share with you.
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Fifteen years ago, I almost lost my life to suicide.
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It wasn't my first suicide attempt, but it was by far the most serious.
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I intentionally overdosed on several medications and ended up on life support and in a coma for several weeks.
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Under changes coming into effect in 2027 to Canada's Assisted Dying Laws, otherwise known as MAID,
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someone going through what I was going through 15 years ago would be able to get a doctor to help them end their life.
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Someone suffering only from a mental illness with no physical health issues whatsoever will be able to access MAID.
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Simply put, if the law on the books now were there 15 years ago, I'd probably be dead right now.
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Well done to Andrew for speaking out against this.
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That so many people are being offered MAID in this country is Canada's shame.
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Offering this to people with mental illness is Canada's disgrace.
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Let me read a little bit of this article to you.
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Canada risks suicide contagion. I read the title to you. People with mental illnesses are already
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dying assisted deaths in Canada under the guise of flimsy medical excuses, and others will doctor
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shop until death if euthanasia is allowed for psychiatric suffering alone, MPs and senators
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were told this week. I and other colleagues are experiencing this. People are clearly getting made
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for reasons that are frankly illegal. Psychiatrist Dr. John Mayer told a special joint
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parliamentary committee weighing Canada's readiness to extend assisted death to those
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whose sole underlying condition is a mental disorder. Rates of suicide in jurisdictions
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that have legalized doctor-assisted death have arisen much faster after it was legalized than
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before, he said, suicide contagion is a well-proven reality. Don't pretend that it won't happen in
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Canada, he said. For the last 23 years, I've treated patients that other psychiatrists told
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me could not get better, and they get better, he told the committee. While the exclusion for mental
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illness is only due to expire in 2027, people are getting made for psychiatric reasons under
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the guise of flimsy medical excuses, prolific MAID providers are happy to assist with suicide
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while people are on wait lists for effective treatment and MAID is being offered to veterans,
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disabled people, and people with very treatable illnesses, Marr said.
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Again, from personal experience, I know that we do not have enough help for people that have
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mental illnesses in this country. It's virtually impossible to get, yet the government of Canada
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can waste billions sending it overseas and on useless projects here in Canada for stupid things
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that help nobody. What you need to do is you need to speak out against this. You need to contact
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your MP. You say, not in my country or in my province. You will not put up with this. This
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is ghoulish. This is Canada's shame. And offering this to people with mental health issues is its
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disgrace. I'm not against dying with dignity. At one time I was, but I've seen it firsthand.
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I've seen what can happen with mental illness, how somebody I love very much has struggled with
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this for years, but they're doing fine. They were able to get some help and they had my support.
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But reach out to your MP and say, not in my country, not in my province, not in my city.
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I will not put up with this. You do have a voice. Thank you very much for watching. I appreciate it.
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If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. Subscribe to the channel. Ring the bell for
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I'm Andrew Lawton, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Elgin St. Thomas, London South.
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This is a deeply personal message. It's one I almost wasn't here to share with you.
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15 years ago, I almost lost my life to suicide. It wasn't my first suicide attempt, but it was by
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far the most serious. I intentionally overdosed on several medications and ended up on life support
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and in a coma for several weeks. This wasn't a cry for help. I wanted to die. Under changes coming
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into effect in 2027 to Canada's Assisted Dying Laws, otherwise known as MAID, someone going
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through what I was going through 15 years ago would be able to get a doctor to help them end
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their life. Someone suffering only from a mental illness with no physical health issues whatsoever
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will be able to access MAID. Simply put, if the law on the books now were there 15 years ago,
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I'd probably be dead right now. What I went through didn't happen overnight. Through much
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of my teenage years and into my early 20s, I battled severe depression. I would have good
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days and bad days, but I started to have more and more bad days. At a certain point, I couldn't take
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it anymore. I made a plan to end my life once and for all. This wasn't a rash or impulsive decision.
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I scheduled it weeks out. Those closest to me had no idea what I was going through.
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I did have a support system I could have leaned on. I had plenty of opportunities to change my
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mind or seek help, but I didn't. I was that committed. I was that stubborn. In my story,
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and those of countless others, the desire to end my life was a symptom of my mental illness.
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So how could ending my life be the answer to what I was going through? Simply put, it couldn't.
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We need to make sure that someone who's struggling is given the help and support they need
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I'm proud to stand behind Bill C-218, a private member's bill tabled by my colleague Tamara
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If passed, this bill will ensure mental illness can't be used as justification for someone
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I wanted to die because I thought I had no future.
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It wasn't easy, but I did. I built a future I never thought was possible, and it wouldn't have
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been possible had I succeeded in ending my life. By its very nature, mental illnesses change the
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way you think. Being a smart person and a rational thinker can be even more dangerous as you convince
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yourself that suicide is a sensible or logical course of action. But it isn't, because it's based
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on an inherently flawed belief that what you're experiencing can never get better. We can't give
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up on each other. The pain that mental illness causes is real, and it is hard, but it isn't
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permanent. Bill C-218 is about ensuring we keep hope alive for people struggling with mental
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illness, that we give them a right to recover. I got better, and others can too.