For David Baltzer, a decorated Canadian combat veteran, the horrors of Afghanistan did not end on the battlefield. They followed him home. And in 2019, when he reached out for help during one of the darkest seasons of his life, what he received was not treatment—but an offer to end his life.
Baltzer, a two-tour veteran of Afghanistan with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI), revealed in a Toronto Sun interview that on December 23, 2019, a Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) caseworker proposed medical assistance in dying (MAiD) as a solution to his suffering.
“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. His account is chilling: at his lowest point, days before Christmas, a government representative suggested that death might be preferable to continued struggle.
Baltzer’s battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is sadly familiar among veterans. After traditional treatments failed, he fell into alcohol and substance abuse, searching desperately for relief. What he needed was support, therapy, hope. What he was offered was death, dressed up as compassion.
The revelations, first brought to light by veteran Mark Meincke on his trauma-recovery podcast Operation Tango Romeo, strike at the heart of a brewing scandal inside Veterans Affairs Canada. Meincke, speaking to the Sun, shredded the narrative that this was an isolated incident caused by a rogue employee.
“This had to have been policy,” Meincke said. “It’s just too many people in too many provinces.”
Meincke’s charge is staggering—and terrifying. If true, it suggests that offering euthanasia to veterans was more than a tragic mistake—it was a systemic practice. Meincke says he knows at least five veterans who were offered assisted suicide instead of genuine care.
Baltzer’s case exposes a grim truth: a society that once honored its warriors now seems disturbingly willing to discard them when they become inconvenient. Veterans offered death instead of healing are not receiving mercy. They are being abandoned.
The call now is not just for an apology—it’s for a full reform of Veterans Affairs. Our soldiers deserve better than to be treated like broken tools to be quietly swept aside. They deserve a nation that fights for their lives as fiercely as they once fought for ours.
