The opening of a secret “euthanasia house” in the city of Victoria, capital of the Canadian province of British Columbia, has caused deep concern among pro-life groups and Church representatives, who denounce the silent expansion of the “medical assistance in dying” (MAID) program in Canada.
According to the National Catholic Register, the non-profit organization MAiDHouse inaugurated a second location in the city in February—after opening its first center in Toronto in 2021—without revealing its exact location or providing public information about permits or licenses.
The Canada Revenue Agency has granted MAiDHouse charitable status, and the federal Ministry of Health recognizes it as one of the “national resources” in euthanasia matters. This fact has provoked indignation among life defenders.
“I don’t understand how an organization that kills people can be considered a charity,” expressed Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, who described the expansion of these facilities as “a new moral low” for the country.
Schadenberg criticized that these centers present themselves as “welcoming and humane” spaces, when in reality, he pointed out, “they exist solely to kill.”
Secrecy, silence, and official complicity
Local Catholic media, such as B.C. Catholic, attempted to contact MAiDHouse to learn its location and operating conditions, but received no response. Municipal authorities in Victoria also offered no information on licenses or oversight.
Christian McCay, spokesperson for Choose Life Victoria, denounced that the euthanasia house has operated for months without public knowledge: “It is deeply disturbing that it has functioned in secret for half a year. This is morally unacceptable.”
McCay, recently elected leader of the Christian Heritage Party of B.C., called on the provincial government to promote public hospices free of euthanasia and ensure dignified access to palliative care: “Patients are being denied real care, they are being pushed toward assisted suicide. That is not dignity, it is desperation.”
The voice of the Church
The Bishop of Victoria, Mons. Gary Gordon, recalled in a 2022 pastoral letter that the ideology of euthanasia feeds on the fear of suffering and loneliness, but warned that “choosing death is never the will of the Creator.”
“The Good Samaritan of the Gospel did not offer euthanasia to the dying man,” the prelate wrote. “The Catholic faith continues to reject assisted suicide as a response to pain or despair in a clear and unequivocal manner.”
The bishop insisted that true compassion consists of accompanying the sick, not eliminating them, and recalled the divine commandment: “Thou shalt not kill”.
A normalized culture of death
Marie Peeters-Ney, a recognized pro-life activist from the Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Victoria, lamented the news but said she was not surprised: “When you start killing, it unleashes a kind of frenzy, and it gets bigger and bigger. We pay people to kill our loved ones.”
Other voices, such as war veteran and communicator Kelsi Sheren, denounced that the MAiDHouse model “feeds on desperation” and that its operators “do not practice medical care, but death care.”
According to the most recent report from Health Canada, in 2023 there were 2,759 euthanasia deaths in British Columbia, 18% of the national total. Nearly 38% occurred in private residences, reflecting a worrying normalization of the act of taking life as a supposed “health service.”