Canada's assisted dying programme has gone too far, says lawyer who tried to take his own life

25 November 2024, 14:24 | Updated: 25 November 2024, 17:31

Warning: This article contains references to suicide

On Friday this week, MPs will debate if England and Wales should legalise assisted dying.

The proposed legislation restricts it to adults with six months or less to live.

Canada introduced assisted dying in 2016 for adults with a terminal illness. In 2021, it was extended to people with no terminal illness and the disabled.

On 17 March 2027, anyone with a serious mental health problem will also be eligible.

Campaigners in Canada argue that the programme, known as MAID [medical assistance in dying], has gone too far.

Orlando Da Silva has struggled with crippling depression since he was a nine-year-old boy.

The high-flying Ontario lawyer is 56 years old now and has tried to take his own life a number of times.

He says if MAID had been offered to him when he was at his lowest, he would have taken the option to end his life.

But he argues that people like him need help with their condition - not help to die.

"You just think you're a worthless little boy and eventually a worthless teenager, and then one day, a worthless man," Orlando says, describing the impact of his mental health on his childhood and later into his adult life.

Working as a top barrister in the province of Ontario helped Orlando. It was a distraction from the suicidal thoughts that would overwhelm him when he left his office on the 47th floor of a downtown Toronto skyscraper.

"If you could measure it on a scale of zero to 10 [where] 10 is the happiest you've ever been, and zero is suicidal, my cruising altitude is about five or six, so I rarely get better than that."