Latest news with #MAID
Indian Express
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Indian Express
From Iran to Pakistan and Ukraine: MAID and the dangerous democracy of war
The images streaming from conflict zones in 2025 tell a chilling story of warfare's rapid evolution. Israeli fighter jets targeting Iranian nuclear facilities while swarms of drones darken the skies over Tel Aviv. Indian precision strikes eliminating Pakistani terrorist camps without a single civilian casualty. Ukrainian drones penetrating deep into Russian territory, launched from operators sitting safely hundreds of miles away. Welcome to the MAID era — Missiles, Artificial Intelligence and Drones — where warfare has become more precise and dangerous than ever before. This technological trinity represents the most significant shift in military doctrine since the advent of nuclear weapons. Yet, unlike the Cold War's nuclear standoff, which created a terrifying but stable balance of mutually assured destruction, the MAID revolution is democratising violence in ways that should alarm anyone concerned about global stability. Low cost, high-impact warfare Consider the stark mathematics: A modern F-35 fighter jet costs over $100 million and requires a highly trained pilot whose loss represents years of investment. A military drone capable of devastating precision strikes costs less than $50,000 and can be operated by someone with minimal training from thousands of miles away. This cost differential isn't just changing military procurement — it's fundamentally altering the strategic calculations that have historically prevented conflicts. The India-Pakistan drone warfare in May illustrates this transformation perfectly. Both nuclear-armed neighbours could demonstrate military resolve, achieve visible battlefield effects, and satisfy domestic political pressures without risking expensive aircraft or elite pilots. The conflict remained contained not because of strategic wisdom, but possibly because drone warfare allowed both sides to save face while minimising escalation risks. This is warfare as political theatre, enabled by technology that makes military action cheaper and seemingly less consequential. Computer-scale speed, human consequences More troubling is the role of AI in accelerating conflict beyond human decision-making timelines. When machine learning algorithms can identify, track and engage targets with minimal human oversight, we edge closer to a world where wars might be fought at computer speeds with human-scale consequences. Ukraine's pioneering work in drone swarm technologies — coordinating hundreds of autonomous units simultaneously — offers a glimpse of conflicts that could spiral beyond human control within minutes rather than hours or days. The current Israel-Iran exchange, now in its first week with mounting casualties, demonstrates how quickly MAID-enabled conflicts can escalate despite initial attempts at limitation. What began as targeted strikes on military infrastructure has expanded to include civilian energy facilities and media centres when warfare becomes this precise and distant, the psychological barriers that historically constrained military action begin to erode. MAID ethics and guardrails Perhaps, most concerning is how the MAID revolution has outpaced our legal and ethical frameworks for warfare. International humanitarian law was crafted for conflicts involving uniformed soldiers using identifiable weapons platforms. How do we assign responsibility when an AI algorithm makes targeting decisions? What constitutes proportionality when swarms of autonomous drones can overwhelm any defence system? Who is accountable when a remote operator launches a precision strike from another continent? Recent US military exercises involving counter-drone operations revealed the complexity of legal authorities even for homeland defence scenarios. If we struggle to determine rules of engagement for defending our own territory against drone incursions, how can we expect coherent international frameworks for offensive operations? The MAID ecosystem's most destabilising effect may be its democratisation of military capabilities. Small nations and non-state actors can now pose credible threats to major powers using relatively inexpensive technology. This levels the playing field in ways that traditional military doctrine never anticipated, potentially emboldening actors who previously would have been deterred by overwhelming conventional superiority. Iran's threats to target the US military base at Diego Garcia with long-range ballistic missiles and drones exemplify this shift. A regional power can now credibly threaten American strategic assets thousands of miles away using technology that was unimaginable just a decade ago. This reach, combined with the reduced political costs of MAID warfare, fundamentally alters deterrence calculations. The conflicts of 2025 have demonstrated that mastery of MAID technologies increasingly determines military effectiveness. Ukraine's transition from individual drone operations to sophisticated swarm coordination shows how quickly military innovation advances under pressure. India's planned $470 million investment in UAV capabilities — triple pre-conflict levels — signals how rapidly nations are adapting to this new reality. Yet, this technological arms race proceeds without corresponding developments in international governance, legal frameworks, or strategic stability mechanisms. We're stumbling toward a future where conflicts may unfold at machine speed with consequences that remain devastatingly human. The international community faces an urgent choice. We can either develop new frameworks for managing MAID-enabled conflicts before they spiral beyond control, or we can continue reacting to each escalation as it occurs. The former requires unprecedented international cooperation and legal innovation. The latter virtually guarantees that the precision and distance of modern warfare will make conflicts more frequent, not less devastating. And there are no guard rails because the UN has almost ceased to function with its members almost disregarding it. The MAID revolution isn't coming — it's here. The question isn't whether this technology will reshape global power dynamics, but whether we'll develop the wisdom to control tools that make warfare simultaneously more precise and more perilous than ever before. The writer, a defence and cyber security analyst, is former country head of General Dynamics
Vancouver Sun
a day ago
- Health
- Vancouver Sun
Liberals show no signs of limiting MAID despite 'extremely concerned' UN report
OTTAWA — Ottawa is giving no sign that it intends to amend existing legislation on medical assistance in dying — something a UN committee called for earlier this spring. The federal minister responsible for disabilities spoke at a hearing of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last week, about two months after the committee called on Canada to repeal the 2021 law that expanded eligibility for assisted dying to those whose deaths were not reasonably foreseeable. Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu gave a speech at the UN last Tuesday to mark 15 years since Canada ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. 'It's about, for me, making relationships in this space and making sure that I have a really strong connection with the community, which I think is really important to be a good minister,' she said in an interview after the speech. Her address did not cite the committee's report, which was released in late March as the federal election got underway. The report said the committee is 'extremely concerned' about Canada's policy on track 2 medical assistance in dying. '(T)he concept of 'choice' creates a false dichotomy, setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for (Canada) to enable their death without providing safeguards that guarantee the provision of support,' the report said. In a written statement, a spokesperson for Hajdu said the government thanks the committee for its report. 'MAID is a deeply personal choice. We will make sure that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld and protected,' said Jennifer Kozelj. Disability rights groups in Canada have argued the law singles out people with disabilities who are suffering because they're unable to access proper support. Last September, Inclusion Canada was among a group of organizations that filed a Charter of Rights challenge against what's known as track 2 MAID. In court documents, they argued the law 'allows people with disabilities to access state-funded death in circumstances where they cannot access state-funded supports they need to make their suffering tolerable.' The organization's CEO, Krista Carr, said she wants to see Ottawa deliver an action plan on implementing the recommendations in the UN report. 'It was crystal clear — the United Nations said they need to repeal track 2 medical assistance in dying,' she said. Garnett Genuis, the Conservative employment critic, said he came away from the UN event worried about Canada's international reputation being harmed by what he called Ottawa's 'failures to uphold our obligations to protect the rights of people with living with disabilities.' 'There is a lot of concern internationally within the disability rights community about what's happening in Canada around euthanasia and people living with disabilities,' he said. Genuis said he would support additional guardrails around track 2 assisted dying. In New Zealand, he pointed out, health professionals cannot suggest assisted dying as an option but are able to provide information to patients who ask for it. 'I think that would be a meaningful way of improving the experience of people living with disabilities who interact with the health-care system,' he said. The offices of Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Justice Minister Sean Fraser did not say whether Ottawa is considering changes to the assisted dying law as a result of the report. A spokesman for Michel cited strict eligibility requirements and 'multiple robust safeguards' in the current law. Canada's medical assistance in dying law was updated in 2021 after the Quebec Court of Appeal found that limiting access to people whose deaths were reasonably foreseeable amounted to discrimination. The federal government opted not to take that ruling to the Supreme Court, and instead changed the law to broaden eligibility. The latest annual report on medical assistance in dying shows that 622 of the 15,343 people who had an assisted death in 2023 were part of that track 2. They included 210 people who self-identified as having a disability. The report said that less than three per cent of the people who qualified for an assisted death in 2023 said they did not receive the disability support services they needed. The most frequently reported disabilities among MAID recipients were mobility and pain-related. To be considered eligible to apply for MAID, a person must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition. For people whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, there's a minimum 90-day waiting period between the first assessment and the procedure. The applicant must be informed of counselling, mental health supports, disability supports, community services and palliative care, and must be offered consultations with relevant professionals. The applicant and two different medical practitioners also have to discuss means to relieve the person's suffering and 'agree that the person has seriously considered these means,' according to Health Canada's website. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here .
Edmonton Journal
a day ago
- Health
- Edmonton Journal
Liberals show no signs of limiting MAID despite 'extremely concerned' UN report
Article content OTTAWA — Ottawa is giving no sign that it intends to amend existing legislation on medical assistance in dying — something a UN committee called for earlier this spring. The federal minister responsible for disabilities spoke at a hearing of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last week, about two months after the committee called on Canada to repeal the 2021 law that expanded eligibility for assisted dying to those whose deaths were not reasonably foreseeable. Article content Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu gave a speech at the UN last Tuesday to mark 15 years since Canada ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 'It's about, for me, making relationships in this space and making sure that I have a really strong connection with the community, which I think is really important to be a good minister,' she said in an interview after the speech. Her address did not cite the committee's report, which was released in late March as the federal election got underway. The report said the committee is 'extremely concerned' about Canada's policy on track 2 medical assistance in dying. '(T)he concept of 'choice' creates a false dichotomy, setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for (Canada) to enable their death without providing safeguards that guarantee the provision of support,' the report said. Article content In a written statement, a spokesperson for Hajdu said the government thanks the committee for its report. 'MAID is a deeply personal choice. We will make sure that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld and protected,' said Jennifer Kozelj. Disability rights groups in Canada have argued the law singles out people with disabilities who are suffering because they're unable to access proper support. Last September, Inclusion Canada was among a group of organizations that filed a Charter of Rights challenge against what's known as track 2 MAID. In court documents, they argued the law 'allows people with disabilities to access state-funded death in circumstances where they cannot access state-funded supports they need to make their suffering tolerable.' The organization's CEO, Krista Carr, said she wants to see Ottawa deliver an action plan on implementing the recommendations in the UN report. Article content 'It was crystal clear — the United Nations said they need to repeal track 2 medical assistance in dying,' she said. Garnett Genuis, the Conservative employment critic, said he came away from the UN event worried about Canada's international reputation being harmed by what he called Ottawa's 'failures to uphold our obligations to protect the rights of people with living with disabilities.' 'There is a lot of concern internationally within the disability rights community about what's happening in Canada around euthanasia and people living with disabilities,' he said. Genuis said he would support additional guardrails around track 2 assisted dying. In New Zealand, he pointed out, health professionals cannot suggest assisted dying as an option but are able to provide information to patients who ask for it. 'I think that would be a meaningful way of improving the experience of people living with disabilities who interact with the health-care system,' he said. Article content The offices of Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Justice Minister Sean Fraser did not say whether Ottawa is considering changes to the assisted dying law as a result of the report. A spokesman for Michel cited strict eligibility requirements and 'multiple robust safeguards' in the current law. Canada's medical assistance in dying law was updated in 2021 after the Quebec Court of Appeal found that limiting access to people whose deaths were reasonably foreseeable amounted to discrimination. The federal government opted not to take that ruling to the Supreme Court, and instead changed the law to broaden eligibility. The latest annual report on medical assistance in dying shows that 622 of the 15,343 people who had an assisted death in 2023 were part of that track 2. They included 210 people who self-identified as having a disability. Latest National Stories
Winnipeg Free Press
a day ago
- Health
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ottawa shows no signs of limiting MAID after UN panel calls for reversal
OTTAWA – Ottawa is giving no sign that it intends to amend existing legislation on medical assistance in dying — something a UN committee called for earlier this spring. The federal minister responsible for disabilities spoke at a hearing of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities last week, about two months after the committee called on Canada to repeal the 2021 law that expanded eligibility for assisted dying to those whose deaths were not reasonably foreseeable. Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu gave a speech at the UN last Tuesday to mark 15 years since Canada ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 'It's about, for me, making relationships in this space and making sure that I have a really strong connection with the community, which I think is really important to be a good minister,' she said in an interview after the speech. Her address did not cite the committee's report, which was released in late March as the federal election got underway. The report said the committee is 'extremely concerned' about Canada's policy on track 2 medical assistance in dying. '(T)he concept of 'choice' creates a false dichotomy, setting up the premise that if persons with disabilities are suffering, it is valid for (Canada) to enable their death without providing safeguards that guarantee the provision of support,' the report said. In a written statement, a spokesperson for Hajdu said the government thanks the committee for its report. 'MAID is a deeply personal choice. We will make sure that the rights of persons with disabilities are upheld and protected,' said Jennifer Kozelj. Disability rights groups in Canada have argued the law singles out people with disabilities who are suffering because they're unable to access proper support. Last September, Inclusion Canada was among a group of organizations that filed a Charter of Rights challenge against what's known as track 2 MAID. In court documents, they argued the law 'allows people with disabilities to access state-funded death in circumstances where they cannot access state-funded supports they need to make their suffering tolerable.' The organization's CEO, Krista Carr, said she wants to see Ottawa deliver an action plan on implementing the recommendations in the UN report. 'It was crystal clear — the United Nations said they need to repeal track 2 medical assistance in dying,' she said. Garnett Genuis, the Conservative employment critic, said he came away from the UN event worried about Canada's international reputation being harmed by what he called Ottawa's 'failures to uphold our obligations to protect the rights of people with living with disabilities.' 'There is a lot of concern internationally within the disability rights community about what's happening in Canada around euthanasia and people living with disabilities,' he said. Genuis said he would support additional guardrails around track 2 assisted dying. In New Zealand, he pointed out, health professionals cannot suggest assisted dying as an option but are able to provide information to patients who ask for it. 'I think that would be a meaningful way of improving the experience of people living with disabilities who interact with the health-care system,' he said. The offices of Health Minister Marjorie Michel and Justice Minister Sean Fraser did not say whether Ottawa is considering changes to the assisted dying law as a result of the report. A spokesman for Michel cited strict eligibility requirements and 'multiple robust safeguards' in the current law. Canada's medical assistance in dying law was updated in 2021 after the Quebec Court of Appeal found that limiting access to people whose deaths were reasonably foreseeable amounted to discrimination. The federal government opted not to take that ruling to the Supreme Court, and instead changed the law to broaden eligibility. The latest annual report on medical assistance in dying shows that 622 of the 15,343 people who had an assisted death in 2023 were part of that track 2. They included 210 people who self-identified as having a disability. The report said that less than three per cent of the people who qualified for an assisted death in 2023 said they did not receive the disability support services they needed. The most frequently reported disabilities among MAID recipients were mobility and pain-related. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. To be considered eligible to apply for MAID, a person must have a grievous and irremediable medical condition. For people whose death is not reasonably foreseeable, there's a minimum 90-day waiting period between the first assessment and the procedure. The applicant must be informed of counselling, mental health supports, disability supports, community services and palliative care, and must be offered consultations with relevant professionals. The applicant and two different medical practitioners also have to discuss means to relieve the person's suffering and 'agree that the person has seriously considered these means,' according to Health Canada's website. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Nova Scotia artist delays MAID to accept Governor General's honour
April Hubbard, performance artist, arts administrator, and disability advocate, poses in Halifax on Wednesday, June 11, 2025. Hubbard is being recognized for her volunteer work in the performing arts with a Governor General Performing Arts Award. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darren Calabrese April Hubbard changed the plan for her death so she could be there to celebrate her life's work at one of Canada's most prestigious arts ceremonies. The 40-year-old arts administrator and performer had pre-recorded her acceptance speech for the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards because she had expected to receive medical assistance in dying before Saturday's gala. 'It's only in the last few weeks that I said, well, maybe I can make it. Can we consider this and make it happen?' she said in a video call from her home in Halifax. 'It's a very strange experience to go back and rewrite an acceptance speech that you didn't think you'd be alive to see.' Hubbard has qualified for MAID because she has tethered cord syndrome, a degenerative disorder of the nervous system resulting from a condition she was born with, spina bifida. While the condition isn't fatal, it causes tissue to attach to the spine, restricting movement and causing severe chronic pain. The condition cut short her acting career at age 17, when she started using a wheelchair. She'd fallen in love with the theatre three years earlier after her mother voluntold her to serve as a script prompter for a community theatre production of 'Drinking Alone.' Throughout high school, she acted, stage managed and did everything she could to be in the theatre. But once she started using a wheelchair, she said she got the message that there was no longer a place for her on stage. 'Every opportunity I had in the arts in Nova Scotia to be on stage dried up when I became visibly disabled,' she said. 'At that point, I had to switch to arts administration just as a way of still being involved in some way and find a way to still have my soul fed by the arts,' she said. 'That was the only place that there was room for me: behind the scenes where I wasn't visible.' In those behind-the-scenes roles, she's fought to make Halifax's theatre scene more accessible to disabled audiences and performers alike. 'When I did get a little foot in the door in any organization, it was the drive to bring others with me who were still not being heard and still not getting through the space,' she said. '(I was) always thinking about, 'OK, I wasn't let into this space, but next year, if I'm here, who will I be welcoming in?'' Hubbard started volunteering at the Halifax Fringe Festival in 2003, and eventually became its chair. Over the years she was involved with the festival, the organization committed to only using venues that were fully accessible, and trained volunteers to be sighted guides to people who are blind or low-vision. She was also consulted when the Bus Stop Theatre co-op bought a building. They brought her on to make sure the space was accessible for both audiences and performers. At the beginning of her advocacy, she said, she was one of the only voices in the room. That's changed over time, as she's found others doing similar work. Those people have made it possible for her to rest when she needs to, she said, 'knowing there's other people out there who will still advocate as well.' Hubbard was also able to return to performance. It started in 2019, when the founders of LEGacy Circus reached out to her. They were training instructors on how to work with performers with atypical bodies and they asked Hubbard for help, she said. As soon as she touched the trapeze, she fell in love. Hubbard and her circus partner Vanessa Furlong started to work together, and soon she was performing publicly for the first time as an adult. She approached her art with thoughtfulness, in contrast to her teenage self taking whatever role came her way. 'In my circus practice, I'd make a really big part of it showing my body fully and not hiding its differences,' she said. She wanted the audience to think about how her being on stage was different from an able-bodied performer — and why it was so uncommon to see. 'It felt very much like returning home,' she said. 'And I didn't realize until I got back onstage just how much I had kind of quieted a part of my soul.' When COVID-19 hit, she didn't want to give that up. She'd been so accepted in the world of circus that she looked for another space that was welcoming to 'outsiders.' She'd done ticketing for drag shows in Halifax for years, so she was very familiar with the local scene and had long thought about becoming a drag artist herself. But at the time, she wasn't able to get onto most of the stages because of her wheelchair. So during the pandemic, when everyone was cooped up inside and drag artists started performing virtually, Hubbard developed her drag persona, Crip Tease. 'It was really amazing to get to do, to be creative at a time that everybody had those same limitations, everybody had to think about 'how am I going to make my art happen?' And it kind of evened the playing field in a lot of ways for me as a disabled artist,' she said. But since then, Hubbard's health has deteriorated. Her pain has worsened, and she's no longer able to perform. That pain led her to pursue a medically assisted death in 2023, and she qualified under Track 2, which is for people whose condition is grievous and irremediable but whose death is not imminent. That's given her some flexibility. She doesn't have a date set, she said, though she still plans to die later this year. Extending her life also means extending her pain, which she describes as a constant burning and pulling sensation. When it's at its worst, she said, it feels like her legs are being sent through a meat grinder. She's been resting up for the last several weeks to be able to make the journey to Ottawa, where she'll accept the Ramon John Hnatyshyn Award for Voluntarism in the Performing Arts in person. Others honourees include musician Jeremy Dutcher, music producer Bob Ezrin and Oscar-nominated actor Graham Greene. 'I'm very aware of the fact that most artists never get a recognition like this in their lifetime,' Hubbard said. 'They never get to experience the joy of hearing how much people appreciate them and their work. And those things are usually only said after somebody has already passed. So it feels like a real blessing to get to hear all that and to be here to experience all of those moments.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2025. By Nicole Thompson
