Filmmakers interviewed more than 4,500 Canadians and 70 policy experts to challenge the nation’s progressive image
A new documentary is challenging the image of Canada as a progressive model for the United States, with filmmakers traveling across the country and interviewing more than 4,500 Canadians as they examined mounting concerns over healthcare, affordability, drug policy, immigration, crime and government spending.
“Broken Country,” directed by Canadian filmmaker Mira Metter and coproduced by her husband, Mike Werry, takes a critical look at how life in Canada has changed over the past two decades and the government policies the filmmakers argue helped drive that transformation. The filmmakers also interviewed more than 70 policy experts for the project.
Among the Canadians featured is a man who suffered a spinal injury and waited 15 hours to see a surgeon. According to materials provided by the filmmakers, his doctor later told him that surgery within an hour could have resulted in a full recovery. Three years later, he lives with chronic pain, can walk only a short distance without a walker and was subsequently offered Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) while seeking treatment for his pain and disability.
“One of the people that I interviewed for this film was a gentleman who had simply slipped and fallen on ice,” Metter said. “And he was rushed to emerge in an ambulance and ended up waiting over 15 hours just to get admitted. And in that time, he was given multiple bags of morphine drips to sort of soothe the pain. But by the time he had gotten to see his surgeon, he was unable to feel anything below the waist, and he ended up having spinal cord damage that was permanent.”
Metter said from the time of recovery it took over 10 months to see someone at a pain clinic to discuss managing his pain.
“And when he finally arrived, they asked him, ‘What is your pain level?’ And he said, ‘It’s a 10 out of 10.’ And they offered him MAID, which is medical assisted suicide,” Metter said. “And he said, ‘I’m not a lost cause. Like I’m just in a lot of pain. Like why are you offering me MAID as a solution to my pain? I just don’t want to be in pain.’ And from the interview subject, he just felt like it was such a betrayal to him and the system.”
According to the BBC, Canada’s MAID law, which legalized euthanasia in 2016, is responsible for one in every 20 deaths in Canada.