Canadian combat vet says he was offered medical suicide

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OTTAWA — He came seeking help, but he says he was instead offered death.

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Nearly three years after the story first became public, another Canadian Forces veteran has stepped forward alleging Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) offered him medical assistance in dying (MAID.)

David Baltzer, who served two tours in Afghanistan with the elite Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI,) told the Toronto Sun he was offered MAID in Dec. 23, 2019 — possibly making him among the first Canadian soldiers offered therapeutic suicide by the federal government.

“It made me wonder, were they really there to help us, or slowly groom us to say ‘here’s a solution, just kill yourself,” Baltzer told the Sun.

The offer stemmed from a disagreement Baltzer had with his existing caseworker, with the topic of MAID coming up during a Dec. 23, 2019 phone call with a different VAC agent.

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“I was in my lowest down point, it was just before Christmas,” he told the Sun. 

“He says to me, ‘I would like to make a suggestion for you. Keep an open mind, think about it, you’ve tried all this and nothing seems to be working, but have you thought about medical-assisted suicide?’”

The suggestion, Baltzer said, left him reeling.

“It just seems to me that they just want us to be like ‘f–k this, I give up, this sucks, I’d rather just take my own life,’” he said.

“That’s how I honestly felt.”

Originally from St. Catharines, Ont., Baltzer enlisted at 17, eventually moving west and joining 2 PPCLI at CFB Shilo in Manitoba.

In 2006, Baltzer was among Canada’s first troops deployed to Afghanistan as part Operation Athena, where he served two tours and saw plenty of combat.

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“We went out on long-range patrols trying to find the Taliban, and that’s exactly what we did,” he said, recalling his first taste of combat.

“The best way I can describe it, it was like Black Hawk Down — all of the sudden the s–t hit the fan and I was like ‘wow, we’re fighting, who would have thought? Canada hasn’t fought like this since the Korean War.”

Upon returning home, Baltzer was offered counselling and therapy by VAC, which he said was of little help.

Baltzer, like many combat vets, turned to alcohol and substance abuse to deal with his trauma — but is doing well today.

A key figure shedding light on the VAC MAID scandal was CAF veteran Mark Meincke, whose trauma-recovery podcast Operation Tango Romeo broke the story.

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“Veterans, especially combat veterans, usually don’t reach out for help until like a year longer than they should’ve,” Meincke said, telling the Sun he waited over two decades before seeking help.

“We’re desperate by the time we put our hands up for help. Offering MAID is like throwing a cinderblock instead of a life preserver.”

Meincke said Baltzer’s story shoots down VAC’s assertions blaming one caseworker for offering MAID to veterans, and suggests the problem is far more serious than some rogue public servant.

“It had to have been policy. because it’s just too many people in too many provinces,” Meincke told the Sun. 

“Every province has service agents from that province.”

The exact number of veterans offered MAID isn’t known.

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In a 2022 briefing VAC said it was between four and 20, but Meincke personally knows of five, and said the actual number’s likely close to 20.

An internal investigation determined in 2023 that responsibility lied with just one caseworker, who they said was no longer employed with VAC.

Baltzer said VAC needs top-to-bottom reform, and a good place to start is replacing civilian caseworkers with military veterans, who can better relate to those scarred by the horrors of war.

“I remember saying to them, ‘if it wasn’t for us you wouldn’t have a job, so maybe you should be more helpful,;” Baltzer recalled with a laugh.

“We served our country, it’s their job to serve us.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume

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