Speaking in Stephenville, NL, on Tuesday during a trip with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Trudeau noted that an investigation is underway into the incident, which has sparked outrage at the government department tasked with providing support to former military members . “That’s not the duty of care we have to veterans,” the prime minister told reporters. “There is a full investigation into how this happened and we will make sure it never happens again.”
Read more: Ottawa orders ‘full and thorough’ investigation into veterans’ assisted dying debate
The remarks were Trudeau’s first since Global News reported Aug. 16 that a VAC agent had reported medically assisted death, unprompted, during a conversation with a combat veteran seeking treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. . Story continues below ad Global News is not identifying the veteran who sought treatment due to privacy concerns, but spoke directly with the person, who says the service agent repeatedly reported MAiD, even after the veteran asked the service agent to stop. The veteran said he felt pressure as a result. 3:08 Canadian veteran felt ‘pressure’ to look into medically assisted death Canadian veteran felt ‘pressure’ to look into medically assisted death VAC said last week it was looking into the matter and promised that “appropriate administrative action” would be taken, without elaborating. On August 19, a spokesman for Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence Macaulay said the minister “has instructed his deputy minister to undertake a full and thorough investigation into this matter”. MacAulay also orders that “all front-line staff at Veterans Affairs Canada be provided with formal training, guidance and advice on how to approach issues surrounding MAiD,” the statement added. Trending Stories
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Story continues below ad The department and its staff are not able to provide the resources for an assisted death, which under Canadian law can only be discussed between a primary care provider such as a doctor or psychiatrist and their patient.
Read more: ‘Deny, delay, die’: Debate over assisted dying renews warnings about gaps in veterans’ care
Veterans’ advocates have raised serious concerns about the mental health impact of even bringing up the issue with veterans, particularly those already suffering from traumatic brain injuries and PTSD. Conservatives have called for a public inquiry into the incident to determine whether MAiD has been offered to any other veterans seeking care — and whether any veterans have acted on such an offer.
Anti-racism councilor’s tweets ‘reprehensible’
Trudeau was also asked about the other controversy swirling around his government, after Ottawa suspended funding for an anti-racism project over so-called anti-Semitic tweets by a senior adviser involved in the strategy. Story continues below ad The prime minister also called the comments “absolutely unacceptable” as well as “reprehensible” and promised that his government would press for further action. “We will continue to monitor, because this is not something we can accept as a government,” he said. 0:26 Trudeau calls comments by consultant hired by Ottawa-funded anti-racism group “reprehensible” Trudeau calls comments by consultant hired by Ottawa-funded anti-racism group “reprehensible” The Community Media Advocacy Centre, which was tasked with building an anti-racism strategy for Canadian broadcasting, received $133,000 from the now-frozen Department of Cultural Heritage, Diversity Minister Ahmed Hussen said Monday. Hussen called the tweets sent by Laith Marouf, a senior adviser on the project, anti-Semitic as well as “reprehensible and despicable”. He called on the center to explain how they hired Marouf and how they plan to remedy the situation. Marouf’s lawyer draws a distinction between his client’s tweets about people he calls “Jewish white supremacists” and Jews in general, saying Marouf does not harbor hostility toward the Jewish faith as a collective group. Story continues below ad
Read more: Ottawa cancels funding for anti-racism project over ‘mean’ tweets from councillor
A screenshot of one of Marouf’s tweets reads: “You know all those loud bags of human excrement aka Jewish White Supremacy. when we liberate Palestine and they have to go back to where they came from, they will go back to being quiet bitches of their (sic) Christian/Secular White Masters”. Trudeau was wrapping up a three-day trip with Scholtz that included the signing of a hydrogen supply agreement and meetings with Canadian and German businessmen. — with files from Mercedes Stephenson and Amanda Connolly of Global News © 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
