Lucas Cook, a California disability advocate and student at UC Berkley, made these powerful remarks to a panel during the United Nations Conference in New York City. 

Hello, my name is Lucas Cook. I wanted to start off by saying I appreciate all members of the panel for being here today. “They created a desert and called it peace” is a phrase that I believe most appropriately describes what Canada’s representatives have presented to the people in this room. The phrase originates from the Roman historian Tacitus who used it to describe how the Roman Empire would claim to bring peace to regions they invaded while in reality bringing death. We have heard their verbal commitment to increasing inclusive economics and about the financial programs they have. This paints a pretty picture of Canada as a nation that provides for its disabled population. This is their claim to peace. But what the delegates from Canada has neglected to mention today, is the desert they are creating. 

In Canada, their Medical Assistance in Dying program or MAID now accounts for one in 20 deaths in Canada. The program kills more than one person with a disability a day in Canada. It began in 2016 after a decades long media campaign from supporters and sympathizers of Robert Latimer, a man who murdered his daughter who had cerebral palsy. The original program was only for people with foreseeable deaths from their disabilities. In 2021 they expanded it to anyone with a disability through Bill C-7. While debating both the original bill and C-7, within the legislature memos were passed around about the cost analysis of MAID. These memos urged legislators to vote yes, as it is cheaper to kill disabled people than to support them. 

Since MAIDs expansion, in community support systems have faced extreme budget cuts. From my understanding based on what disabled people in Canada have reported, there are only two programs which provide care aids to those who wish to live independently. Now, in order to get enough hours to live independently, a person needs to be on both programs. If a person does not get access to both these programs, they face the choice of being institutionalized or opting to kill themselves through MAID. Many Canadians choose the ladder. 

Fellow delegates, I ask you if the expansion of euthanasia programs while increasing the difficulty to access health care and personal supports is not considered coercion, then what is? To make matters worse, Canada is expanding MAID to anyone with a mental illness in the DSM-5, and there is an expanding push to allow children as young as 14 to kill themselves through MAID as well. So while Canada may have programs which provide minimal financial assistance to some with disabilities, it comes as they claim not to have the funds to provide vital assistance to those who need it. 

People with disabilities such as myself deserve the same rights to life as everyone else. No where should we face the decision of facing our human rights being taken away in an institution or killing ourselves, especially not in nations that are as wealthy as Canada. The CRPD cannot be fully realized till such legislation is erased. Thank you.