Canadian veteran says government worker offered her euthanasia after she asked for a stairlift

A disabled veteran in Canada has lashed out at the Canadian government for allegedly offering to euthanize her when she expressed frustration with the delay in having a wheelchair lift installed in her home.

Retired Army Corporal Christine Gauthier, who is a former Paralympian, testified in Parliament on Thursday that it was a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) caseworker who made the offer of assisted suicide.

Gauthier was injured in an Army training accident in 1989, which caused permanent damage to her knees and her spine.

After years of frustrating delays in getting the home lift, Gauthier says that her caseworker said “Madam, if you are really so desperate, we can give you medical assistance in dying now.” Gauthier said the offer was made in 2019.

The caseworker in question hasn’t been named, but Global News reported that they have made the same suggestion to three other veterans.

This news comes as Canada’s veterans affairs minister confirmed that at least four other veterans also offered access to Canada’s Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) law in response to their troubles.

Gauthier competed in the 2016 Paralympic Games and Prince Harry’s 2016 Invictus Games (above) where she won a gold medal in indoor rowing and heavyweight powerlifting.

Gauthier said she first requested the chairlift in 2017.

“It has isolated me greatly, because I have to crawl down my butt with the wheelchair in front of me to be able to access my house,” she told Global News, adding that she was appalled by the offer of assisted suicide.

“I was like, I can’t believe that you will … give me an injection to help me die, but you will not give me the tools I need to help me live. It was really shocking to hear that kind of comment.”