People’s Party of Canada (PPC) leader Maxime Bernier has slammed a Canadian company over a viral video, criticising the retailer for trying to make suicide seem “cool.”
The PPC leader criticised Quebec retailer Simons after a commercial the company made several weeks ago went viral on social media over the weekend.
The video, a commercial for the company, features a young woman who sought to end her own life under Canada’s liberal euthanasia laws, known as medical assistance in dying (MAID).
Speaking to Breitbart News on Monday, Mr Bernier said, “now you have a marketing corporation that decided to do an ad on that and you know, if they did that, it’s mostly because I’m pretty sure that they did focus group and they saw that it’s in or ‘cool’ to, to have an ad about that for big corporations like Simons here in Quebec.”
“So but that being said, for me, this is disgusting,” Bernier said and added that while he voted for MAID legislation while a member of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), he stated that “it was supposed to be only for the end of life, and in rare, rare exceptions, and now it’s not the case anymore.”
Bernier noted that the woman in the viral video was young and said, “it’s like you know if you’re depressed, there’s a solution for that, you can end your life. I don’t like that. And I believe that it’s going too far.”
Last year, the euthanasia advocacy group Dying With Dignity Canada, interviewed PhD candidate Sydney Campbell who advocated that “mature minors” should be eligible for MAID and said it was “unfortunate” that it was “taboo” to speak on the topic.
Mr Bernier, meanwhile, advocated the opposite approach, saying “I believe that the federal government and provincial governments must look at it. And like I said, we must put more restrictions on that. It’s too easy for people right now to have assisted suicide. It’s very easy.”
Instead, the PPC leader stated that governments should look to restrict MAID and said that it was wrong to glorify suicide. “If you have a doctor or a nurse who is promoting that, it must be unethical, you know, you’re there to save life not to promote another alternative that is ending your life. It must never come from medical personnel.”
Earlier this month it was revealed that Canadian doctors were being urged to mention MAID to eligible patients, even if the patients have not brought up the topic themselves.
Since 2019, MAID has become an increasing cause of death in Canada, with 3.3 per cent of all deaths in 2021 being caused by MAID, with the provinces of British Columbia and Quebec seeing nearly five per cent of all deaths last year caused by medically assisted suicide.
While some MAID deaths are linked to those with terminal diseases, others have requested MAID based more on poverty than illness, according to Canadian broadcaster Global News.
Mr Bernier is not the only one to criticise the growing trend of MAID in Canada, as Canadian religious leaders have also expressed concerns over the further liberalization of MAID, which is set to make people with mental illnesses eligible for assisted suicide next year.
Vancouver Roman Catholic Archbishop J. Michael Miller called MAID “morally depraved” and stated, “In six years, Canada has gone from totally banning euthanasia to one of the most permissive euthanasia regimes in the world — and even more access could be coming, including allowing ‘mature minors’ to request it.”
MAID has also been suggested to at least four or five Canadian Armed Forces veterans by a Veterans Affairs Canada caseworker, who has since been suspended from their position.
Last week, Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, a member of the Trudeau government, apologized to the veterans involved and said, “We expect all Veterans Affairs candidate employees to interact with veterans with care, compassion and respect and the actions of this one employee is simply disgusting.”
Minister MacAuley blamed the reported cases on the lone employee and stated that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) would be investigating the incidents.
Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.
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