In light of the nature of the subjects on this website, it is designed to permit readers to fact-check content. Consequently there are numerous hyperlinks embedded in this website’s text, videos on YouTube, and copies of primary source documents have been uploaded to a database that is available in the section “ARCHIVE“.     

It is a matter of record that I am a Canadian-Australian social worker, mental health advocate, public interest activist and whistleblower living in Canberra, Australia (LinkedIn).

Mental illness and mental health recovery are both poorly understood and negatively impacted by ignorance, stigma and discrimination. These factors contribute to extremely poor outcomes for millions of people each year around the world, including suicide.

According to research “many people describe stigma as being worse than the condition itself” (The Lancet, 2022), which was my personal experience. As addressed in a report by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education and Employment in Australia, stigma came close to resulting in my own suicide (Work Wanted, 2012, p.19). 

While mental health recovery-oriented services are chronically under-funded by governments globally, the action taken by Canadian politicians warrants special and immediate attention. Under former prime minister Justin Trudeau’s government, legislation was enacted to expand the eligibility of medical assistance in dying (MAID) to permit medical practitioners the legal right to administer lethal injections to people who express a desire to die and whose sole medical condition is mental illness. These deaths are scheduled to commence under prime minister Mark Carney’s government: “The eligibility date for person’s suffering solely from a mental illness [for death by MAID] is now March 17, 2027” (Government of Canada). 

I fundamentally object to MAID being expanded to include individuals whose sole medical condition is mental illness. Moreover, many citizens, politicians and researchers have significant concerns about how MAID has been administered in the country, as addressed in the section “MAID IN CANADA“.        

Shortly after Mr. Trudeau became prime minister of Canada — and before he supported MAID for mental illness — he was sent an open letter by Professor Patrick W. Corrigan, which concluded with the following assessment: “Knowledge of Mr. Mahar’s story will serve to challenge the stigma of mental illness, raise awareness of recovery, and inspire hope for people with mental health problems and their families” (Patrick W. Corrigan, February 22, 2016). 

The late Professor Corrigan was a renowned American mental health scholar, researcher and the world-leading expert on the stigma of mental illness who Stanford University  identified as being in the top 2% of most cited scientists in the world (obituary).

Given my respect for Professor Corrigan, and my motivation to assist others with mental health conditions, I am committed to publicly share aspects of my story to try to challenge the stigma of mental illness, raise awareness of recovery, inspire hope and oppose the expansion of MAID for mental illness. To that end, I have provided information about my experience of severe mental illness in Canada and subsequent recovery in the section “RECOVERY IN AUSTRALIA“. 

As addressed by Professor Corrigan in his open letter to the former Canadian prime minister, I was formerly diagnosed with a severe mental illness while campaigning for an investigation into a media company subsidy scheme and evidence of systemic corruption at the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). It is a matter of record that I have  formerly challenged some of the most powerful vested interests in Canada (Global Television, August 8, 1995), initiated a precedent-setting legal case against a multi-billion-dollar corporation (Mahar v Rogers Cablesystems Ltd.) and generated questions in the House of Commons about the File 1000-121 Affair in two different millennia: (March 30, 1995) and (February 8, 2008). Consequently, to truly understand my story a person must have some basic knowledge about the case of corruption in Canada, which is addressed in the section “THE FILE 1000-121 AFFAIR“. 

Similarly, to truly understand why this case corruption remains ongoing — and how no media companies, federal regulators or politicians have been held accountable — a person requires some basic knowledge about the failure of Canada’s mainstream media to effectively inform Canadians about the File 1000-121 Affair, which is addressed in the section “MEDIA ILLNESS“.    

I’ve come to the conclusion that the best way for me to demonstrate that recovery from severe mental illness is possible is to publicly campaign against the expansion of MAID and for an investigation into the File 1000-121 Affair. For this purpose, I am going to slightly modify future content posted on my existing Substack account. Not only will I continue to address issues related to mental health, my story and the case of corruption, but also post about my campaigns against the expansion of MAID and for an investigation into the File 1000-121 Affair. This is where I will identify some of the key individuals who have been involved, and exactly how they have involved. This information will be posted in the section “BLOG” — simply click “No thanks” to access the content if you do not want to subscribe. 

Former Member of Parliament Dan McTeague stated — more than three decades ago — that I was “dead-on” about my campaign for an investigation into the CRTC and that I was “slightly ahead” of my time (Global Television, August 8, 1995).  

Hopefully, it is my time, Canadians will finally become aware of the File 1000-121 Affair and demand democratic reform.