John Bolton - April 23, 2026


Canada's Shame - You Need To Act - Call Your MP

Topics
state-sponsored violence mental illness and suicide
Hosted by
John Bolton
Mentioned
Andrew Lawton John Mayer Bill C-63 Tamara Jensen Marr
Carney - Mr. All Talk No Action - His Latest Smokescreen - The CUSMA Committee The Independence Petition - The Story Of The Most Unlikely Location

Episode Stats


Length

10 minutes

Words per minute

158.47

Word count

1,727

Sentence count

139

Harmful content

Misogyny

1

sentences flagged

Toxicity

8

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

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

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Hi, it's John and welcome to the channel 358 a.m. Thursday, April the 23rd. I hope you're
00:00:08.440 having a great start to your Thursday. I'm lifting my big blue mug of coffee today with
00:00:13.360 my left hand because my big cat, Blue, is sitting and sleeping right there where my
00:00:19.220 coffee normally sits. And in our house, cats get to sleep wherever they want. Nice to have
00:00:25.500 you here today. And I'm going to ask you to do something today. You need to act on this. Not
00:00:31.200 enough people are speaking out or paying attention to what's going on here. And I know you're aware
00:00:36.020 of this. In a few moments, I'm going to tell you some deeply personal stories. No names will be
00:00:41.960 mentioned, but these are things that have happened to me. And you may have similar experiences as
00:00:47.760 well. And it hurts my heart, these things. I'll tell you about that in just a moment.
00:00:53.780 On this channel over the last year, I've said on occasion that I think Canadians are self-righteous. 0.92
00:00:59.700 Canadians have a holier-than-thou attitude.
00:01:03.080 Canadians have a sense of moral superiority.
00:01:05.620 And I've said this in relation to the United States of America.
00:01:10.580 Canadians also think we're better than the United States because the United States allow people to have guns.
00:01:16.240 They have a right to bear arms there. 0.74
00:01:18.880 Americans are violent. 0.99
00:01:20.640 They're violent people. 0.99
00:01:21.520 We're not that way in Canada, but folks, we have state-sponsored violence here.
00:01:26.180 That's absolutely disgusting, and you need to speak out against it.
00:01:29.600 What am I talking about?
00:01:31.000 I'm talking about this.
00:01:34.940 Canada risks suicide contagion if euthanasia is approved for mental illness, psychiatrist warns.
00:01:41.540 Now, you need to let your MP know about this.
00:01:47.100 Let me tell you my stories.
00:01:48.340 Now, as far as MAID goes, medical assistance in dying, people call it dying with dignity.
00:01:56.560 I've got some personal experience with this.
00:01:59.700 Very close person in my life decided to do this, elderly, very sick. 0.51
00:02:11.320 The future didn't look very good, and they decided to do this.
00:02:18.340 and at the time, I was torn, because, you know, the thing you think about doing is you think
00:02:26.740 about fighting to the end. You don't want to give up, but I saw this person completely
00:02:34.840 confident in what they were doing. There was no hesitation.
00:02:38.600 They didn't want to go through what was coming.
00:02:43.080 I've also had experience with mental illness in my life.
00:02:48.340 And this person has been very close to ending their life.
00:02:57.200 And it's very, very difficult when you're dealing with this kind of thing.
00:03:01.080 And if this legislation goes through, I think about what would happen
00:03:06.640 if this very close person in my life was given this option a number of years ago.
00:03:14.560 I think of Andrew Lawton.
00:03:17.180 Andrew Lawton has spoken out about this.
00:03:20.020 I'm going to play a short clip of a video that Andrew put up
00:03:23.100 about a very personal experience he has had.
00:03:25.420 He's been in this situation.
00:03:27.140 I'm going to put the complete video at the end
00:03:29.640 and a link to Andrew's video in the description,
00:03:32.720 but here's a bit from Andrew Lawton.
00:03:34.680 I'm Andrew Lawton, the Conservative Member of Parliament
00:03:36.920 for Elgin St. Thomas, London South.
00:03:39.220 This is a deeply personal message.
00:03:41.400 It's one I almost wasn't here to share with you.
00:03:44.020 Fifteen years ago, I almost lost my life to suicide.
00:03:47.180 It wasn't my first suicide attempt, but it was by far the most serious.
00:03:51.380 I intentionally overdosed on several medications and ended up on life support and in a coma for several weeks.
00:03:57.880 This wasn't a cry for help. I wanted to die.
00:04:01.180 Under changes coming into effect in 2027 to Canada's Assisted Dying Laws, otherwise known as MAID,
00:04:07.780 someone going through what I was going through 15 years ago would be able to get a doctor to help them end their life.
00:04:14.280 Someone suffering only from a mental illness with no physical health issues whatsoever will be able to access MAID.
00:04:22.020 Simply put, if the law on the books now were there 15 years ago, I'd probably be dead right now. 0.68
00:04:28.040 Well done to Andrew for speaking out against this.
00:04:31.140 That so many people are being offered MAID in this country is Canada's shame. 0.83
00:04:37.180 Offering this to people with mental illness is Canada's disgrace. 0.96
00:04:41.840 Let me read a little bit of this article to you. 0.93
00:04:45.240 Canada risks suicide contagion. I read the title to you. People with mental illnesses are already
00:04:50.880 dying assisted deaths in Canada under the guise of flimsy medical excuses, and others will doctor
00:04:57.540 shop until death if euthanasia is allowed for psychiatric suffering alone, MPs and senators
00:05:03.980 were told this week. I and other colleagues are experiencing this. People are clearly getting made
00:05:10.420 for reasons that are frankly illegal. Psychiatrist Dr. John Mayer told a special joint
00:05:17.180 parliamentary committee weighing Canada's readiness to extend assisted death to those
00:05:22.160 whose sole underlying condition is a mental disorder. Rates of suicide in jurisdictions
00:05:29.420 that have legalized doctor-assisted death have arisen much faster after it was legalized than
00:05:35.320 before, he said, suicide contagion is a well-proven reality. Don't pretend that it won't happen in
00:05:42.000 Canada, he said. For the last 23 years, I've treated patients that other psychiatrists told
00:05:47.820 me could not get better, and they get better, he told the committee. While the exclusion for mental
00:05:54.240 illness is only due to expire in 2027, people are getting made for psychiatric reasons under
00:06:00.900 the guise of flimsy medical excuses, prolific MAID providers are happy to assist with suicide
00:06:07.020 while people are on wait lists for effective treatment and MAID is being offered to veterans,
00:06:13.820 disabled people, and people with very treatable illnesses, Marr said.
00:06:21.120 Again, from personal experience, I know that we do not have enough help for people that have
00:06:27.720 mental illnesses in this country. It's virtually impossible to get, yet the government of Canada
00:06:32.960 can waste billions sending it overseas and on useless projects here in Canada for stupid things 0.99
00:06:38.260 that help nobody. What you need to do is you need to speak out against this. You need to contact 0.99
00:06:44.880 your MP. You say, not in my country or in my province. You will not put up with this. This
00:06:52.300 is ghoulish. This is Canada's shame. And offering this to people with mental health issues is its
00:07:01.880 disgrace. I'm not against dying with dignity. At one time I was, but I've seen it firsthand. 0.95
00:07:11.740 I've seen what can happen with mental illness, how somebody I love very much has struggled with
00:07:16.620 this for years, but they're doing fine. They were able to get some help and they had my support.
00:07:26.520 But reach out to your MP and say, not in my country, not in my province, not in my city.
00:07:33.900 I will not put up with this. You do have a voice. Thank you very much for watching. I appreciate it.
00:07:40.040 If you like this video, please give it a thumbs up. Subscribe to the channel. Ring the bell for
00:07:44.340 notifications. I will see you in the next one.
00:07:56.160 I'm Andrew Lawton, the Conservative Member of Parliament for Elgin St. Thomas, London South.
00:08:00.740 This is a deeply personal message. It's one I almost wasn't here to share with you.
00:08:05.740 15 years ago, I almost lost my life to suicide. It wasn't my first suicide attempt, but it was by
00:08:11.460 far the most serious. I intentionally overdosed on several medications and ended up on life support
00:08:17.540 and in a coma for several weeks. This wasn't a cry for help. I wanted to die. Under changes coming
00:08:24.220 into effect in 2027 to Canada's Assisted Dying Laws, otherwise known as MAID, someone going
00:08:30.300 through what I was going through 15 years ago would be able to get a doctor to help them end
00:08:35.060 their life. Someone suffering only from a mental illness with no physical health issues whatsoever
00:08:40.940 will be able to access MAID. Simply put, if the law on the books now were there 15 years ago,
00:08:47.700 I'd probably be dead right now. What I went through didn't happen overnight. Through much
00:08:52.880 of my teenage years and into my early 20s, I battled severe depression. I would have good
00:08:57.580 days and bad days, but I started to have more and more bad days. At a certain point, I couldn't take
00:09:03.220 it anymore. I made a plan to end my life once and for all. This wasn't a rash or impulsive decision.
00:09:09.300 I scheduled it weeks out. Those closest to me had no idea what I was going through.
00:09:15.020 I did have a support system I could have leaned on. I had plenty of opportunities to change my
00:09:19.800 mind or seek help, but I didn't. I was that committed. I was that stubborn. In my story,
00:09:26.540 and those of countless others, the desire to end my life was a symptom of my mental illness.
00:09:32.500 So how could ending my life be the answer to what I was going through? Simply put, it couldn't.
00:09:38.240 We need to make sure that someone who's struggling is given the help and support they need
00:09:42.320 to not want to end their life.
00:09:45.060 I'm proud to stand behind Bill C-218, a private member's bill tabled by my colleague Tamara
00:09:50.580 Jansen.
00:09:51.620 If passed, this bill will ensure mental illness can't be used as justification for someone
00:09:56.860 to end their life with MAID.
00:09:58.980 I wanted to die because I thought I had no future.
00:10:02.360 I had no hope that I could be happy.
00:10:04.460 And boy, was I wrong.
00:10:06.280 I got better.
00:10:07.700 It wasn't easy, but I did. I built a future I never thought was possible, and it wouldn't have
00:10:13.900 been possible had I succeeded in ending my life. By its very nature, mental illnesses change the 0.97
00:10:19.880 way you think. Being a smart person and a rational thinker can be even more dangerous as you convince 0.99
00:10:25.800 yourself that suicide is a sensible or logical course of action. But it isn't, because it's based
00:10:31.820 on an inherently flawed belief that what you're experiencing can never get better. We can't give
00:10:37.460 up on each other. The pain that mental illness causes is real, and it is hard, but it isn't
00:10:43.180 permanent. Bill C-218 is about ensuring we keep hope alive for people struggling with mental
00:10:49.200 illness, that we give them a right to recover. I got better, and others can too.