Trudeau Curtails Harper's Anti-Choice Activist End-of-Life Panel Activities

This is brilliant. Former PM Stephen Harper appointed in the dying weeks of his government a smallish panel of anti-choice activists to advise his government on how to implement the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on assisted dying. The CBC reports today that PM Trudeau's government has moved to curtail this panel's scope of activities. It doesn't want advice from the panel on possible legislation any longer, the federal government simply asks the panel members to summarise the results of its consultation. I'm pretty sure the results of this panel's activities will be filed away right after that. Game over for these anti-choice activists. Here is some more background information on two of them. Note that both of them were expert witnesses on behalf of the Harper government fighting the case against assisted dying in our courts. Their expertise sank without a trace when the Supreme Court decided unanimously that depriving us of access to assisted dying violates our Charter rights. Mind boggling the amount of tax monies that were wasted on their activities.

Health Care - Not an Issue for Major Political Parties in Canada's Federal Election Campaigns

It's a somewhat surreal election campaign that is currently in full swing in Canada. It stays clear of issues of vital importance to Canada and Canadians. There we have a rapidly ageing population and really we need a national seniors strategy that accounts for that. One can nearly feel sorry for the Canadian Medical Association here. The association tried hard during the last few months to make this issue an issue in the current election campaign. It was rightly supported by sympathetic journalists such as the Globe and Mail's Andre Picard. Yet, for all those efforts, the issue gained no traction with any of the major parties. Our federal leaders' heads remain firmly planted deep in sand, with no effort made to look ahead and address major, dramatic challenges to our health care system. Instead we were treated to a good two weeks' worth of Mike Duffy and the usual corrupt shenanigans that are a hallmark of Prime Minister Harper's political operation.

I spoke yesterday to a journalist interviewing me on the state of federal and provincial planning with regard to the implementation of our Supreme Court's decision  on assisted dying. He asked why the political parties, in my estimation, haven't taken up this issue in their respective campaigns? He was puzzled that an issue that enjoys broad support among Canadians is ignored by the major political parties. What was I to say other than 'I don't get it either'. A new poll, released today, confirms what I told the journalist yesterday, it is not only the case that the vast majority of Canadians want to see the decriminalization of assisted dying, it is also the case that the vast majority of conservative party voters supports the decriminalization. 77% of Canadians generally support decriminalization and a whopping 67% of conservative party voters and 84% of NDP voters. This does beg the question why none of the mainstream parties have leveled with their supporters and the general voting public on how they would implement the Supreme Court judgment. I do still wonder why Prime Minister Harper appointed an advisory panel stacked with discredited anti-choice activists, given that the majority of his party's supporters is in favor of decriminalization. Why on earth would he stack his panel with folks known to be opposed to decriminalization? I sometimes wonder about the credit that is given to Mr Harper who is hailed as a master political tactician. His whole election campaign seems a shambles to me.

Harper puts politics before democracy - Even in matters of life and death

Guest Post by Elizabeth Jane Banks

On Friday July 17, the Federal Government made a long-awaited announcement regarding the implementation of physician-assisted dying. As Justice Minister Peter Mackay had promised, the government has convened an external panel to consult with Canadians and make recommendations to government.

 The three-member panel includes two individuals who were expert witnesses for the Crown in the Carter Case regarding the right to die with dignity.

Dr. Harvey Chochinov and Dr. Catherine Frazee both argued against the right of Canadians to have access to physician assisted dying.

 Dr. Chochinov, the panel chair, is a well-known palliative care physician who claims that assisted death is unnecessary and Canada should instead simply focus on improving palliative care. He wrote about his views in this recent editorial for the National Post.

 Dr. Catherine Frazee served as Co-Director of the RBC Ryerson Institute for Disability Studies Research & Education. In an opinion piece for the Halifax Chronicle Herald, Dr. Frazee argued that legalizing assisted dying would put pressure on individuals with disabilities and might result in their being coerced into choosing an assisted death.

The third and final member of the panel, Mr. Benoît Pelletier, is a University of Ottawa law professor, a constitutional expert, and a former cabinet minister in Jean Charest’s provincial cabinet. 

Although an Ipsos Reid poll conducted last October found that 84% of Canadians, including the majority of supporters of all political parties, believe physician assisted dying should be legal, that means nothing to PM Harper. Once again we see him subverting democracy. Now he shows he’s even willing to play politics in matters of life and death.

Conservative and Liberal Canadian Senators bring assisted dying bill on the way

Conservative Ontario Senator Nancy Ruth and Liberal British Columbia Senator Larry Campbell have introduced today an assisted dying bill in the Canadian Senate. They hope to have it voted on during the spring session of the House. From there it would proceed to the House of Commons for further deliberation and eventual vote.

You might recall that Conservative MP Stephen Fletcher introduced such a bill in the House of Commons, but it was killed there by procedural means by a government determined not to be associated with legislation that's broadly in sync with what more than 80% of Canadians want to see happen in the country.

We will see how this pans out. With a bit of luck it adds further momentum to the currently ongoing Supreme Court of Canada case. Certainly anything helping the momentum toward the decriminalization of assisted dying in the country is to be applauded.

Given that we are going into a federal election in 2015, I can't wait to see how the parties' head honchos and election strategists will try to wriggle their way out of this one. It's a topic that political parties and their parliamentary voting drones try to avoid as much as the plague, despite overwhelming societal support for such a change. - It goes without saying, the honourable exception was Bill 52 in Quebec, there introduced with cross-party support.

The Senate bill reportedly differs from MP Fletcher's bill in three respects:

• It clarifies the roles of the assisting physician, the consulting physician, and who can be official witnesses.
• It requires doctors to report to their provincial ministry that they have assisted with a death and provide a certificate with all relevant details
• It requires a 14-day waiting period after a patient's first request to a physician for help with dying, followed by a second conversation to confirm the patient's wishes

 

Is it that difficult to get your questions right, Globe and Mail?

The Globe and Mail newspaper has done a pretty sterling job covering the ongoing proceedings on end-of-life matters in Canada. Reporting has been well-informed and its editorialising has been supportive of the decriminalisation of assisted dying in the country.

Yesterday though, the paper flunked it. It tried to have yet another for-and-against on the subject matter. I don't blame the paper, the issue is currently heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, it's a big issue (right next to that non-issue, Ebola scare in Belleville). The for and against asked Margaret Somerville (mysteriously introduced as one of Canada's best-known experts on the subject) and Arthur Schafer to address the question of whether doctors should be permitted to accede to patient requests for assisted dying. Not unexpectedly, the two contenders had nothing new to say, but nonetheless their comments were the starting point for a lively debate among Globe and Mail readers.

What I found shocking is that the paper didn't manage to phrase the question correctly. It asked: 'Should patients be allowed to request suicide?' Well, obviously, this isn't the question at all.

Canadians are legally permitted to ask this question of anyone at any time. Nobody is questioning Canadians' right to request assisted dying (it's about assisted suicide/voluntary euthanasia, btw, not about suicide, dear Globe and Mail). The real issue is whether health care professionals should be permitted to accede to such requests. That the paper didn't quite get to asking its 'best-known experts'. Bit disappointing.