Caseworker accused of offering veterans assisted deaths no longer works for Veterans Affairs, department says | 24CA News
A federal caseworker who allegedly provided at the very least 4 Canadian army veterans the choice of medically-assisted loss of life (MAID) is not working for Veterans Affairs Canada, a spokesperson for the veterans minister mentioned Tuesday.
Erika Lashbrook Knutson, press secretary to Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, instructed 24CA News {that a} labour relations course of involving the worker is now full and the person is “no longer employed” by the division.
She wouldn’t say whether or not the worker, who has not been recognized publicly, was fired or resigned voluntarily.
No different particulars have been revealed.
The division launched an investigation final summer season after receiving experiences {that a} veteran claimed to have been pressured by a caseworker to contemplate medically assisted dying.
A subsequent inner investigation uncovered three extra confirmed instances. Other veterans have come ahead publicly with their very own claims — together with a former paralympian. In a current interview on CBC’s Power & Politics, MacAulay continued to insist that solely 4 instances had been uncovered within the evaluate of the caseworker’s file.
The case has been handed over to the RCMP for felony investigation. There was no replace as of Tuesday on any progress in that probe.
In testimony earlier than a House of Commons committee and in public statements, MacAulay has repeatedly condemned the act of providing veterans medically assisted dying.
WATCH: Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay on veterans and MAID
Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay says going ahead, if a veteran asks for info on MAID, caseworkers at the moment are educated to instantly ahead the case to a supervisor: “Information on MAID, that’s between the doctor and the patient.”
He instructed the Commons veterans committee on Nov. 24 that there was “no way to justify” these actions and he wasn’t about to defend the worker.
The minister apologized for the alleged actions of the caseworker.
The Conservative opposition and a few former army members have questioned how thorough the interior division investigation has been.
Conservative MP and veterans committee vice-chair Blake Richards has referred to as for an unbiased, exterior investigation, saying many former troopers have little religion within the division’s capability to unravel the difficulty.
The revelations involving veterans added gas to the burning nationwide debate over plans to broaden MAID to incorporate these struggling solely from psychological diseases.
That change was set to happen in March however Justice Minister David Lametti and Minister for Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett lately introduced they will current laws within the House of Commons to increase that deadline.
The extension, Lametti mentioned, would give the federal government extra time to arrange requirements for assisted-dying requests from people whose sole underlying situation is a psychological sickness. It would additionally give provinces and medical professionals time to prepare for the change.
The controversy involving veterans drew worldwide consideration, with a number of media retailers in different nations carrying the experiences.
