As a psychiatric nurse, Donna Duncan knew how to convince authorities that she had the capacity to choose a medically assisted death. Did she?

When Donna Duncan chose assisted dying, her daughter Alicia searched for understanding. How had a woman without a terminal illness and who was struggling with mental health challenges been allowed to make such a choice?

Looking for answers, Alicia succeeded in launching a police investigation, the first in Canada. What began as a private heartbreak quickly became a matter of national controversy as she uncovered troubling gaps in medical safeguards, exposing a system that often prioritizes policy over people, especially those living at the margins. The Other Side of the Straitjacket lays bare the human cost of end-of-life legislation and the devastating consequences of unrecognized mental health struggles.