Just Go Ahead and Die: The Disturbing Treatment of a Disabled Veteran in Canada
While the entire documentary was eye-opening to me as someone whose only familiarity with Canada is a brief childhood trip to Vancouver and a love of dry ginger ale, there was one segment that stood out to me in particular.
Around the 16:30 mark, we’re introduced to Christine Gauthier, an ex-army veteran and a 5x world champion Paralympian. She served 10 years in the Canadian Armed Forces before suffering a spinal cord injury in 1989 which ended her military career.
Since the privatisation of social services, Christine talks about the obstacles she has had to overcome just to receive base-level care from the Canadian government. While entitled to a new wheelchair every 5 years, she has had to wait 12 years for a replacement.
During a visit from a Veterans Affairs caseworker, Christine raised concerns about the delays affecting the installation of a wheelchair lift at her home in Montreal, to make accessibility easier for her. In response to her complaints, Christine claims that the caseworker said:
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