Belleville Police have confirmed an open criminal investigation into the death of an 83-year-old woman under Canada's MAiD program. Brigitte Stegemann died by lethal injection on July 10 at The Pearl care home in Cannifton, Ontario. She had stage 4 stomach cancer, diagnosed in February, with a prognosis of six months to two years. Her granddaughter had cared for her for twelve years & held power of attorney for personal care for six. She says her grandmother had refused MAiD repeatedly on religious grounds & that the assessment was arranged while she was away on a ten-day trip. The family's complaint to Ontario's Chief Coroner, filed in August, makes three specific claims: that she lacked capacity to consent, that the power of attorney was bypassed & that there was no final express consent on the morning. On the capacity assessment, the family says she was asked how many siblings she had - she had 13 - answered none. Asked how many were living, she said none. 2 are alive. The care home & the practitioners involved have not publicly addressed the allegations. They maintain that she legally consented. Nothing has been proven & the investigation is ongoing. Here's what makes this bigger than one family. Every argument for assisted dying rests on capacity & consent being verifiable. This case will test whether Canada can actually demonstrate that after the fact or whether the paperwork is the only record that survives.

Belle is speaking at Money Frontier 2026. Belle is an experienced fintech professional well versed in both TradFi and digital assets. With a background in structured products in traditional finance, she has accumulated over 20 years of experience in business development and commercial strategy. Belle specializes in APAC go-to-market strategy across fintech SaaS solutions, digital assets prime brokerage, and OTC services. She is passionate about building the bridge between TradFi and digital assets, and is a firm believer in scalability through institutional adoption. Join her at Money Frontier 2026. Get your tickets and learn more: