A terminally ill federal inmate wants to be released so he can die outside of prison. He's been refused, so he's applying for MAID

After more than four decades in a federal prison, Ed Speidel is fighting for a compassionate release so he can die outside, in a halfway house, rather than in his jail cell.

But after being rejected for parole and refused an appeal, he now fears he will die a painful death, struggling to breathe behind bars.

"My biggest fear is dying in jail. I don’t want to die in jail," said Speidel in a phone interview with CTV News from an office in the Matsqui Institution, a medium-security prison in Abbotsford, B.C.

The 62-year-old suffers from end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) along with chronic pain and rheumatoid arthritis. Tests show his lungs have only 19 per cent function compared to healthy adults.

"I have days where I have a real hard time breathing and it's like choking, like you're starved for air," said Speidel.

He requires oxygen 24 hours a day. Yet just prior to his phone interview with CTV, he said he had to struggle to get staff to provide him with a portable oxygen unit to make the trip to the room where the interview would take place.

Speidel, who uses a walker and spends most of his time in his cell, says he is in no way a threat to the public.

"I was a s**thead. (I did) robberies. But I didn't hurt anyone," he said. "I have done 41 years. I’ve done my time. Nothing is being served by keeping me here."

Speidel has served a total of 41 years, having done multiple stints behind bars.

At a parole hearing in July 2022, he asked for parole by exception – more commonly referred to as compassionate or geriatric parole – due to his failing health, age and time served. He was not represented by a lawyer and was turned down.

He obtained legal support early this year. Lisa Crossley, who works with Prisoner Legal Services in Vancouver, says the case is bolstered by a note from a doctor in the institution, recommending that the parole board consider compassionate release for Speidel given his progressive health condition.

But the motion on for an expedited hearing of his review on July 8 was rejected. Speidel is now working through an application for a medically assisted death, though he says it's not really his preference.

"For the vast majority of people, if you are terminally ill, what risks do you really pose? I think that should be asked and there should be more options for people for some type of release," Crossley told CTV News.

Still, Crossley says, she will continue to push for an expedited regular parole hearing, and for another appeal for a compassionate release. She believes it is the first case of its kind in the country that will highlight the plight of older prisoners who are ill.

"It is a matter of public importance that affects many people in federal prison," said Crossley.

AGING AND AILING INMATES

Of the 6,886 prisoners now in federal jails as of 2023, more than 1,700 (25.6 per cent) are 50 and older and are classified as aging offenders. 

Surveys show that prisoners age more rapidly due to their past lifestyles, high rates of substance abuse and the stress of imprisonment. 

There are higher rates of diseases that come with age including cancer, diabetes, lung disease and dementia.

Ivan Zinger, the correctional investigator of Canada, says a review, conducted in 2019 worried him.

"We saw an inordinate amount of prisoners who were either terminally ill or had dementia or Alzheimer's, who had severe mobility restrictions, who were bedridden. And all these individuals, you scratch your head, saying, 'What are they doing in a prison setting?'" he said in an interview from his office in Ottawa, Ont.

"Prisons and penitentiaries were never designed to be nursing homes or long-term care facilities or hospices. And this is what they've turned out to be. And it's just not acceptable," Zinger added.

In a statement sent to CTV News, Correctional Service of Canada officials said they could not comment on specific inmates or their cases, but wrote that the agency "acknowledges that challenges exist in addressing the multiple needs of aging offenders, but remains committed in its efforts to continue to develop strategies in meeting those needs.''

The Parole Board of Canada, meanwhile, is responsible for making decisions about exceptional paroles and when offenders don't pose a risk to the public. In an email to CTV News, PBC officials wrote that the board granted 29 paroles by exception to all age groups between 2019 and early 2023. Of those, 13 were prisoners aged 60 and older.

That amounts to about four compassionate releases per year and proves, says Zinger, that the corrections system is not offering enough medical compassionate releases.

"Each year, up to 40 incarcerated individuals die in Canadian penitentiaries of 'natural causes,' usually terminal illnesses,” he noted. “The fact of the matter is none of these individuals benefited from a compassionate release, even though their death was expected or imminent.”

Meanwhile, studies show the cost of keeping a geriatric offender in prison can be two to four times higher than housing them in a halfway home with medical support.

Zinger points to other jurisdictions, like in the U.S. and Europe, which are building secure nursing homes for inmates, where they can be transferred after they turn 65 or develop chronic or fatal illnesses.

In Canada, there are at least five secure halfway homes that accept or are just starting to accept aging inmates, with about four dozen beds. Haley House, in Peterborough, Ont., has 10 beds and is hoping to open a second home with 10 more beds this fall. Still, the case manager, Jeff Morgan, writes that existing facilities don't "come close to meeting the needs of aging offenders that are coming out of federal institutions, or are due to be released."

COMPASSIONATE PAROLE OR MAID?

With no indication he will get out any time soon, Speidel has applied for medical assistance in dying (MAID), and is awaiting a medical assessment. The process usually takes three months or less.

He says he'd much prefer dying a natural death in a supervised halfway house. But his next regular parole hearing could be in 2024.

"What it looks like is that it's easier to kill myself here, with their (medical) help, than it is to try and convince them to let me back out. And I don't understand why," Speidel said.

CTV reported earlier in 2023 that there has been a small but noteworthy increase in MAID deaths among inmates, at rates higher than those in most other countries that allow assisted death.

The 2019 report by the Zinger also warned that without better planning for aging and ailing prisoners, there would be a surge of requests for MAID.

"Canada’s correctional authority should not be seen to be involved in enabling or facilitating any kind of death behind bars. It is simply incongruent with CSC’s obligation to protect and preserve life," he wrote.

Yet Speidel’s case suggests this is exactly what is happening.

He wants parole to die on his own. But the road to approval for MAID may come more easily – a problem his lawyer says needs to be addressed.

“Are we comfortable with it being the case that people can apply for MAID and be granted it within a month?” said Crossley. ”If you're eligible for MAID, you meet all those requirements, do you really pose such a risk to the community that you shouldn't be eligible for some kind of release as well?” she added.

For Speidel, it is a simple, binary choice.

"I sure hope I get out because if I don't, I will take MAID. I'm not going to sit here, unable to breathe, until I'm laying on the floor choking," he said.