Canada has performed nine medically-assisted deaths among prisoners in the last seven years, more than any other country which tracks and records such data.
The number of federal prisoners requesting medically-assisted death (MAID) in Canada has also increased, with 27 asking for permission to die between June 2016, when the legislation came into effect, and March 31 this year, according to information provided by Correctional Services of Canada (CSC) following an Access to Information Act request.
Only three other countries — Switzerland, Belgium, and Spain — have publicly acknowledged one euthanasia death each for a prisoner. Two of them were performed in February this year, the other in 2022.
Jessica Shaw, an associate professor of social work at the University of Calgary who has been studying assisted death in prisons and submitted the access to information request, said she is worried about the lack of transparency in reporting cases and how decisions are made.
“Canada is the leading provider of assisted death for prisoners,” she said. “It would appear to me that there’s a very different process when it comes to people who are dying through assisted death in prison than it is for… the general population of Canada.”
According to the data, the number of inmates requesting MAID is up from five in 2018; however, the data is heavily redacted.
The document also shows that a third of all requests for MAID from prisoners are approved. The rate of approvals is also significantly lower than the 81 per cent approval rate in the general population. No other information was provided on the medical reasons for the MAID requests, and why requests were rejected .
“For privacy reasons, we are currently unable to provide a further breakdown of these numbers,” a spokesperson for Correctional Services Canada told CTV News in an emailed statement on April 26.
However, Shaw described the lack of details as “secretive in many ways.”
“We worry about what’s happening,( and) what’s not happening behind, behind bars and behind closed doors,” she added.
The lack of transparency also troubles Ivan Zinger, the Correctional Investigator of Canada. Zinger says his agency has a mandate to investigate all deaths of federal prisoners.
However, MAID-related deaths are not included in these investigations, he said, despite multiple recommendations from his office to open access to information to allow investigators to review cases.
“For some extraordinary reason, Corrections (Services Canada) was able to get an exemption of that requirement,” said Zinger told CTV News. “We keep raising it (the matter). But we don’t have data and they don’t have the obligation to provide us with data. And that’s the problem.”
MENTAL ILLNESS and MAID IN PRISON
In 2020, Canada’s federal prisons housed an estimated 14,000 men and women, with a further 9,000 on parole. Studies show that a growing number of inmates are aged over 50, putting them at risk of cancer and other diseases which might qualify them for medically-assisted death.
In March next year, another concern looms for Zinger and Shaw, as the criteria for applying for MAID will likely expand to include mental illness as a sole reason for requesting assisted death.
Zinger says data from CSC indicates 75 per cent of those imprisoned federally have a current mental health diagnosis, while other studies show prison life itself can worsen mental health.
“If the provisions are extended to include mental illness, there could be a lot more people that become eligible,” Zinger said, calling for more transparency in discussing MAID among prisoners. ” I believe that Corrections (Services Canada) should be reporting it in an open way…..so that we can track it better and we can ensure that how it’s being provided is in sync with the legislation and human dignity.”
Canada is the only country in the world that has approved medically assisted death as a right for prisoners, with guidelines on how it is to be provided. Requests from inmates first go to a prison official who then decides if the prisoner can proceed with the application with two outside medical assessors. But, unlike applications involving the general public, prisoners cannot choose the assessor nor ask for a second opinion.
Shaw is concerned that some of the procedures, including having guards during MAID-related appointments, may pressure prisoners into a decision.
“We really need to attend to whether or not someone can adequately consent when they’re being watched by a prison guard, for example… or whether anyone has free choice when so many of their rights have been taken away,” she added.
Jessica Shaw, an associate professor of social work at the University of Calgary. (submitted by Jessica Shaw)
Shaw spent time in prisons interviewing inmates about assisted death prior to the pandemic for her research. She says some expressed fears about raising the issue of MAID, worried they would be labelled suicidal by prison staff, which they claimed would lead to them placed in solitary confinement for their own safety.
Her other concern is whether the guidelines, and training of assessors, will adequately assess whether inmates who request MAID are, in fact, attempting to escape prison life.
In a study she co-authored in 2021, Shaw spoke to one inmate, “James,” whose identity was protected as they were advocating for MAID as a way out of their life sentence.
“There’s over 400 dangerous offenders in Canada,” she says “James” told her. “So why not give us another option? Instead of having the taxpayers pay millions of dollars (for our prison time), why not just give us that option to go to sleep?.”
A study in 2015 from Belgium highlighted a similar ethical problem. Researchers reported on 17 requests for euthanasia made by long-term prisoners who were “motivated by the constant and unbearable psychological suffering of detention.” The study reported that all of the requests were eventually declined, with authors warning that it is important for people in detention see assisted death as an “exception to be used with great caution.”
“Prison itself may be a contributing factor to decisions about wanting to end your life, right? That’s a challenge,” said Catherine Latimer, executive director of the John Howard society, a not-for-profit agency promoting what its website calls “humanity in justice.”
She says her society believes prisoners have a right to the same services as all Canadians, including MAID. However, she has concerns as to whether medical services offered to prisoners are equal to those outside of prison because they are constrained by security and cost issues.
“My concern is we should be very vigilant about making sure that people who have mental illnesses in prison are getting the assistance that they need,” she added.
Dr. Lilian Thorpe is one of the first MAID providers to speak publicly about offering assisted death for prisoners. She is a geriatric psychiatrist and a professor in the department of Community Health and Epidemiology and Psychiatry in Saskatoon.
One inmate she assisted was allowed out of prison early and admitted to a hospital facility, where he spent his final hours with family before getting a medically-assisted death.
“(They ) had a lot of contact with family, that’s what they wanted. They wanted out of prison. And, you know, they were bed bound and very sick. But they were able to die in the way that they wanted which is with the families there,” she told CTV News.
According to the access to information data Shaw obtained, of the eight cases of MAID listed at the time of her report, seven were performed outside of prisons.
Another inmate with advanced stage cancer was given MAID in prison. Dr. Thorpe, who was also the physician on this case, said it was the prisoner’s wish to die behind bars. “He did not want to be discharged because he had been in corrections basically all his adult life and he wanted to be with people that he knew and his closest supports are actually in that facility,” she said.
However, there are other experiences that worry Zinger. In one of the early cases of MAID, detailed in a federal report, one inmate was “shackled to the bed” with officers nearby as the procedure occurred. Zinger supports the idea that all palliative and MAID should be treated out in the community, as those who are ill and dying are of little risk to the public.
“The best way of dealing with this is to try to get people out earlier…where care can be provided in a better setting than inside of penitentiary or even in a hospital with correctional staff at the door,” he added.
Correctional Services of Canada told CTV News in an email that it “is responsive to the needs of offenders, including quality and compassionate palliative and end of life care.”
Shaw, meanwhile, intends to keep tracking MAID developments globally and asking questions of Canada’s processes in this emerging ethical discussion.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Victor Hedman as the team captain on Wednesday as training camp opened, making the big defenseman the successor to Steven Stamkos.
Hedman, who is going into his 16th season with Tampa Bay, was considered the obvious choice to get the “C” after the Lightning did not re-sign Stamkos and their longtime captain left to join Nashville.
“Victor is a cornerstone player that is extremely well respected by his teammates, coaches and peers across the NHL,” general manager Julien BriseBois said. “Over the past 15 seasons, he has been a world-class representative for our organization both on and off the ice. Victor embodies what it means to be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and is more than ready for this exciting opportunity. We are looking forward to watching him flourish in his new role as we continue to work towards our goal of winning the Stanley Cup.”
The 33-year-old from Sweden was a key contributor in the Lightning hoisting the Cup back to back in 2020 and ’21, including playoff MVP honors on the first of those championship runs. Hedman also took home the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2018 and finished in the top three in voting five other seasons.
Ryan McDonagh, who was reacquired early in the offseason in a trade with the Predators, and MVP finalist Nikita Kucherov will serve as alternate captains with the Lightning moving on to the post-Stamkos era.
TORONTO – While Toronto FC is looking to improve its position on the pitch, general manager Jason Hernandez is trying to do the same off it.
That has been easier said than done this season.
Sending winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty to CF Montreal for up to $1.3 million (all dollar figures in U.S. funds) in general allocation money before the secondary transfer window closed in early August helped set the stage for future moves.
But there have been plenty of obstacles, which Hernandez has been working to clear.
“We feel a lot more confident going into this upcoming off-season that we did the one prior,” said Hernandez. “There’s a level of what I would say booby-traps that were uncovered when I first got the (GM) role at the end of last summer.”
The club is paying off departed forwards Adam Diomande and Ayo Akinola as well as a $500,000 payment due in 2024 to Belgium’s Anderlecht for Jamaican international defender Kemar Lawrence. That payment was part of the transfer fee for Lawrence, who joined TFC from Anderlecht in May 2021 and was traded to Minnesota United in March 2022.
Diomande was waived while Akinola’s contract was terminated by mutual agreement.
“That comes to an end in ’25, which is nice,” said Hernandez. “We had to suffer from a salary cap perspective this season. But those things coming off, the Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty money coming in, we’re going to be in a position to make some good additions, which is positive.”
While MLS clubs are allowed one contract buyout per year, Toronto had already used its on former captain Michel Bradley, who retired after last season. Bradley had previously restructured his contract, deferring money.
TFC’s only other move during the summer transfer window was the signing of free-agent defender Henry Wingo. Hernandez said the club knew going into the window that it was likely limited to the one acquisition “unless other business happened”
“We knew we had this bucket of money and we knew we were going to go get Henry,” said Hernandez.
While the sale of the highly touted Marshall-Rutty opened up other possibilities, it came on the eve of the transfer window closing. And the team did not like what it saw in the free-agent market.
“A lot of the opportunities we were presented in the free agency space felt more like a short-term, Band-Aid decision versus what actually the club probably needs.”
Hernandez was not willing to take in players who came with a “club-friendly” salary cap charge in 2024 and a much bigger number in 2025.
Instead, Toronto promoted forward Charlie Sharp and wingback Nate Edwards to the first team from TFC 2 ahead of last Friday’s roster freeze.
MLS teams are operating on a salary budget of $5.47 million this season, which covers up to 20 players on the senior roster (clubs can elect to spread that number across 18 players). But the league has several mechanisms that allow those funds to go further, including using allocation money (both general and targeted) to buy down salaries.
Designated players only count $683,750 — the maximum salary charge — against the cap no matter their actual pay. Toronto’s Lorenzo Insigne is actually earning $15.4 million with fellow Italian Federico Bernardeschi collecting $6.295 million and Canadian Richie Laryea $1.208 million.
Hernandez says Laryea’s contract can — and “very likely” will — be restructured so as to remove the designated player status.
There are benefits in going with just two designated players rather than three.
Teams that elect to go with two DPs can sign up to four players as part of the league’s “U22 Initiative.” The pluses of that structure include a reduced salary cap charge for the young players and up to an extra $2 million in general allocation money.
Hernandez says the club is currently pondering whether that is the way to go.
Captain Jonathan Osorio who is earning $836,370 this season, restructured his deal to allow the team to sign Laryea as a DP. In doing so, Osorio had his option year guaranteed so his contact runs through 2026.
Hernandez and coach John Herdman will have decisions to make come the end of the year.
The contracts of goalkeeper Greg Ranjitsingh ($94,200), defenders Kevin Long ($277,500), Shane O’Neill ($413,000) and Kobe Franklin ($100,520), midfielder Alonso Coello ($94,050) and Brandon Servania ($602,710), and forward Prince Owusu ($807,500) — all on the club’s senior roster — expire at the end of 2024 with club options to follow.
While there is more work to do, Hernandez believes TFC is on the right road.
Toronto, which finished last in the league at 4-20-10 in 2023, went into Wednesday’s game against visiting Columbus in a playoff position at eighth in the East at 11-15-3.
“By every metric, we are miles ahead of where we were at this point last year,” said Hernandez.
“That’s a low bar, so that’s not saying much,” he added.
But he believes TFC is “quite competitive” when it has all its players at its disposal.
“To get results in this final stretch, we’re going to need our prominent players to really show up and have big performances, and be supported by the rest of the cast.”
After Columbus, TFC plays at Colorado and Chicago and hosts the New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami. The club also travels to Vancouver for the Canadian Championship final.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024
Mackenzie Hughes might just be what the International team needs as this year’s Presidents Cup.
Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., is one of three Canadians on the squad competing in the match-play event at Royal Montreal Golf Club next week.
His putting skills, cool demeanour under pressure, pre-existing connections with teammates and clubhouse leadership could help the team — made up of non-American players outside Europe — end a nine-tournament losing skid to the United States at the biennial event.
“I’ve had this one circled on the calendar for a few years now,” said Hughes on joining fellow Canadians Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners as captain’s picks on the 12-player International team. “I pretty much knew that when it was announced the tournament would be in Canada and that Mike Weir was going to be the captain, you pretty much knew where that was going to go.
“To get that call from (Weir) is really special because he’s the guy that I looked up to, we all looked up to, as Canadian golfers.”
Pendrith and Conners are returning to the team after a disappointing 17 1/2 to 12 1/2 loss to the United States at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. in 2022.
Hughes was ranked 14th on the International team standings in 2022 and could have easily been included on that squad after Australia’s Cameron Smith and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann were ruled ineligible after jumping ship to the rival LIV Golf circuit.
However, captain Trevor Immelman of South Africa instead chose the lower ranked Christiaan Bezuidenhout (16th) of South Africa, Pendrith (18th), South Korea’s Kim Si-woo (20th) and Australia’s Cameron Davis (25th).
“I certainly wanted to be on that team but also I understood the picks,” said Hughes, who lives in Charlotte and plays at Quail Hollow regularly. “I think that like a lot of guys that don’t get picked you more so look back on your own play and I wish I had made that selection easier for them.
“I didn’t do myself any favours in the six weeks leading up to it and that’s a hard pill to swallow.”
It may have been a costly oversight on Immelman’s part, as finishing holes was an issue for the International team in 2022 and Hughes is one of the best putters on the PGA Tour. This season he’s third in shots gained around the green and fifth in shots gained from putting.
“It doesn’t mean that just because I was there it would have turned the tide, but I’d like to think maybe I could have helped,” said Hughes. “That’s why you play the matches. You have to get out there and do it.”
This year Hughes made it easier for Weir, the Canadian golf legend from Brights Grove, Ont., to choose him. Hughes is 51st in the FedEx Cup Fall standings and has made the cut seven tournaments in a row, including a tie for fourth at last week’s Procore Championship.
“Mac played very solidly all year. Really like his short game, an all-around short game,” said Weir on Sept. 3 after announcing his captain’s picks. “He’s one of the elite and best short game guys on the PGA Tour
“I also love Mac’s grit. So that was the reason I picked him.”
Hughes’s intangible qualities go beyond grit.
He, Pendrith and Conners will arrive at Royal Montreal as a unit within the International squad, having become close friends while playing on Kent State University’s men’s golf team before turning pro. They’re also part of a group of Canadians, including Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., that regularly practice together before PGA Tour events.
“To have those guys with me is really icing on the cake, it’s very special,” said Hughes. “Opportunities like this don’t come around very often: to play this kind of team competition, which is already hard to do, but to play with some of your best friends, it almost seems scripted.”
An 11-year professional, Hughes has also been a member of the PGA Tour’s player advisory council the past two years and has been an outspoken advocate for making professional golf more accessible to fans.
Although Weir relied heavily on analytics to make his captain’s selections, Hughes’s character came up again and again when asked why he was named to the team.
“I just have a gut feeling with Mac that he has what it takes in these big moments,” said Weir. “They’re big pressure moments, and I have a feeling he’s going to do great in those moments.”
DP WORLD TOUR — Aaron Cockerill of Stony Mountain, Man., continues his chase for a spot in the Europe-based DP World Tour’s playoffs. The top 50 players on the Race to Dubai standings make the DP World Tour Championship and Cockerill moved eight spots up to 39th in the rankings after tying for ninth at last week’s Irish Open. He’ll be back at it on Thursday at the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England.
KORN FERRY TOUR — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is ranked 38th on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour’s points list. He leads the Canadian contingent into this week’s Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. He’ll be joined at Ohio State University Golf Club — Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio by Edmonton’s Wil Bateman (53rd), Etienne Papineau (65th) of St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Que., and Sudarshan Yellamaraju (99th) of Mississauga, Ont.
CHAMPIONS TOUR — Calgary’s Stephen Ames is the lone Canadian at this week’s Pure Insurance Championship. He’s No. 2 on the senior circuit’s points list. The event will start Friday and be played at Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course in Monterey, Calif.
LPGA TOUR — There are four Canadians in this week’s Kroger City Championship. Savannah Grewal (97th in the Race to CME Globe Rankings) of Mississauga, Ont., Hamilton’s Alena Sharp (115th), and Maude-Aimee Leblanc (142nd) of Sherbrooke, Que., will all tee it up at TPC River’s Bend in Maineville, Ohio.
EPSON TOUR — Vancouver’s Leah John is the low Canadian heading into the Murphy USA El Dorado Shootout. She’s 54th in the second-tier tour’s points list. She’ll be joined by Maddie Szeryk (118th) of London, Ont., and Brigitte Thibault (119th) of Rosemere, Que., at Mystic Creek Golf Club in El Dorado, Ark.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
Jessica Shaw, an associate professor of social work at the University of Calgary. (submitted by Jessica Shaw)
