Part 1 | The daughter who secretly helped her mom die—then spoke out

In 2009, Kay Carter asks her daughter to help her die. Assisted suicide is illegal in Canada, and 89-year-old Kay has spinal stenoisis — a painful degenerative disease. So she and her daughter, Lee Carter, covertly plan a trip to Switzerland, where Kay takes a lethal barbiturate, followed by a square of chocolate, and says goodbye. It’s a good death, and Lee decides it can leave a legacy. So despite the risk of prosecution, she goes public with Kay’s story, triggering a court battle to make doctor-assisted death legal in Canada. Host Falen Johnson and journalist Clare Bonnyman tell the story of Carter vs. Canada, and the family who found themselves at the centre of a national debate about who decides when life is worth living. This episode is part one of two. The second part will come out on November 3, 2026.