Mother says “Dr Death #2” approved mentally ill young son’s assisted suicide

Kiano Vafaeian was medically killed via assisted suicide. His mother, Margaret Marsilla, shared a post on Facebook Tuesday, mourning her son’s death and blaming Canada’s assisted suicide regime.

Source: Facebook

The mother of a 26-year-old man who was medically euthanized—after having previously opposed her son’s assisted suicide—alleges that one medical practitioner, whom she calls “Dr. Death #2,” approved her son’s death solely “based on mental illness.”

Kiano Vafaeian was medically killed via assisted suicide. His mother, Margaret Marsilla, shared a post on Facebook Tuesday, mourning her son’s death and blaming Canada’s assisted suicide regime and Dr Ellen Wiebe for her loss. Marsilla says Wiebe approved her son’s death when no other doctor would.

“Four years ago, here in Ontario, we were able to stop his euthanasia and get him some help. He was alive because people stepped in when he was vulnerable and not capable of making a final, irreversible decision,” Marsilla wrote. “Tragically, the Canadian system later allowed something very different to happen in Vancouver, where a doctor named DR Ellen Wiebe, AKA Dr Death #2, approved his death based on mental illness.”

Under the Criminal Code, which governs Canada’s assisted suicide program, mental illness is currently not the sole criterion for MAiD. However, the Liberal government still plans to open up the program on March 17, 2027, to allow individuals suffering solely from mental illness to access assisted death.

Wiebe is one of Canada’s leading MAiD practitioners, having overseen over 400 assisted deaths. She serves on the advisory council of Dying with Dignity Canada and is a board member and research director for another pro-euthanasia group, the Canadian Association of MAiD Assessors and Providers.

When asked about her involvement in Vafaeian’s death and the grounds on which he was approved for a medical injection to end his life, Wiebe told True North that she “will not comment on any specific patient.”

“Like my colleagues, I have never approved anyone for MAiD who has not met all the legal criteria: a grievous and irremediable medical (not psychiatric) condition, suffering unbearably and capable of making medical decisions,” she wrote in an email.

Vafaeian had diabetes, suffered vision loss in his left eye and experienced underlying depression.

When asked whether diabetes or vision loss could be the sole criterion for a state-approved death, Weibe said, “It is not the diagnosis that is important – it must be a grievous and irremediable medical, not psychiatric, condition that causes unbearable suffering.”

According to the Government of Canada website, to be considered as having a “grevious and irremediable medical condition” for track two of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), a person must have a serious illness, disease or disability; be in an advanced state of decline that cannot be reversed; and experience “unbearable physical or mental suffering” from their illness, disease, disability or state of decline that “cannot be relieved under conditions” the patient deems acceptable.

The website is clear that their illness does not need to be fatal or terminal to be eligible.

“If you have a mental illness along with other medical conditions, you may be eligible for medical assistance in dying,” the website states. “Eligibility is always assessed on an individual basis and takes all relevant circumstances into account. However, you must meet all the criteria to be eligible.”

Vafaeian’s mother said that the actions of Wiebe “reveal a pattern of coldness and disregard for vulnerable human life,” stating that she could no longer stay silent.

“No compassion. No protection. No effort to save a life, only to end it. This is not healthcare. This is a failure of ethics, accountability, and humanity,” Marsilla wrote on behalf of both of the 26-year-olds’ parents. “No parent should ever have to bury their child because a system—and a doctor—chose death over care, help, or love.”

She vowed to “pursue accountability” against Wiebe and stand alongside other families and associations harmed by Canada’s MAiD program.

Vafaeian’s funeral is scheduled for this Saturday in Etobicoke. Attendees are encouraged to donate to an organization that supports diabetes care, vision loss and mental health.