Dear friends,
There is a lot going on in issues of concern to us.
In Quebec, MAiD by advance request is permitted as of October 30, 2024. That means that vulnerable seniors’ lives will be ended when they are not asking for it and cannot consent to it because of a neurocognitive disorder. It is controversial even among those who promote MAiD.
Prominent MAiD provider Dr. Claude Rivard and others have said publicly that they are not at ease with ending the life of a person who cannot currently request it or consent to it, and who would need to be restrained or sedated in order to give the lethal injection.
MAiD without current consent remains prohibited by the Criminal Code of Canada. Both the Collège des Médecins du Québec and the Canadian Medical Protective Association have warned their members about the medicolegal implications of proceeding under the Quebec law.
However, the Government of Canada announced that they will not challenge the law, and will launch a “national conversation” on advance requests for MAiD from November 2024 to January 2025. Two months, with Christmas in the middle, for such a fraught discussion! It sounds like the outcome is predetermined.
We have had several opportunities to share our concerns about this development in English media, but have heard virtually no voices of caution in French.
- Healthy Debate: Quebec’s move to allow advance requests for MAiD ‘the worst news imaginable’ by Ferrukh Faruqui.
- CBC, Canada Tonight, October 30, 2024, Should advanced requests for MAiD be allowed? This physician says no
- CJAD radio, November 1, 2024. Quebec’s new MAiD rule misconstrues the notion of informed consent
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In Ontario, the Office of the Chief Coroner “Medical Assistance in Dying Death Review Committee” released several reports on October 16, 2024. Among them, the report on Navigating Vulnerability in Non-Reasonably Foreseeable Natural Deaths reveals evidence of MAiD driven by poverty, marginalization and lack of support for mental illness and disability.
See the excellent analysis by Dr. Karandeep Sonu Gaind in The Conversation.
Also the podcast The disturbing truth of Canada’s euthanasia program with Peter Copeland and Dr. Ramona Coelho, a member of the committee.
On November 14 at 8:00 pm EST, Dr. Coelho and human rights lawyer David Shannon, also a member of the committee, will give an online lecture entitled Are Safeguards Safe: Grave Concerns Regarding MAiD, organized by the deVeber Institute. Registration is required.
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We will continue to keep you informed. Please do likewise, and continue to share your concerns with the media and with your Federal and Provincial members of Parliament.
Best regards,
Catherine Ferrier
