Case reference: MAID-AB-2024-QEKN · Calgary, Alberta · Approved for MAID; outcome not publicly known · Recorded by the register as established
Who she is
M.V. is a young woman from Calgary. A publication ban means she can be identified only by her initials. She was 27 when her case reached court. Her only publicly known diagnoses are autism and ADHD. She has never disclosed in court the condition behind her MAID approval, and she has asked that her decision be respected as private.
Her father, W.V., and her mother love her and wanted her to live. That is at the heart of this case.
What happened
M.V. applied for MAID in 2023. One doctor approved her and a second did not. A third assessor was brought in and approved her, giving her the two approvals the law requires. Her death was scheduled for 1 February 2024 at the family home.
On 31 January 2024, the day before, her father obtained an interim injunction. In March 2024, Justice Colin Feasby of the Court of King’s Bench set it aside, ruling that “M.V.’s dignity and right to self-determination outweighs the important matters raised by W.V.” He found that the court could not review the clinical judgment of MAID assessors, but that the role of the Alberta Health Services MAID navigator could be examined. He stayed his decision for 30 days to allow an appeal, and the father appealed.
In late May 2024, with her access to MAID blocked until the appeal, M.V. began voluntarily stopping eating and drinking. In June 2024, her father discontinued his appeal.
Why they were pushed toward MAID
No source says why M.V. sought MAID, and no source says anyone pushed her toward it. She has kept her condition and her reasons private, and we do not speculate about them here.
Her father’s concern was the reverse: that she was being allowed to die when she should have been helped. He argued that she is “vulnerable and is not competent to make the decision to take her own life,” that she is generally healthy, and that her physical symptoms come from “undiagnosed psychological conditions.” His lawyer, Sarah Miller, called for greater oversight within the medical system. The court did not rule on M.V.’s capacity.
In their own words
W.V.’s position, as summarized by the court, was that his daughter had “become obsessed with MAiD” and was not competent to choose it. Justice Feasby acknowledged the “profound grief” he would suffer. He also wrote that his ruling did not stop M.V. from changing her mind.
The sources reviewed do not say whether MAID was ultimately provided after the appeal was dropped.
What this case shows
M.V.’s case raises a hard question about Canada’s MAID law: what a family can do when they believe a young person with autism, and no disclosed terminal illness, is being approved for death. The law gave the father almost no way to have the approval reviewed. Whatever one thinks of her choice, the case shows how little outside scrutiny a Track 2 approval gets.
Sources
- CBC News: Calgary judge rules 27-year-old can go ahead with MAID death despite father’s concerns
- Calgary Herald: Judge says Calgary woman with autism can have assisted suicide
- CityNews Calgary: Calgary judge rules woman can proceed with MAiD
- CBC News: Father of Calgary woman starving herself to death abandons court fight against her MAID approval
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