Live and let die?
Parliament again considers assisted suicide
Nick Ternette

Amid the fighting and posturing in anticipation of an election, a much more important debate has been taking place in Ottawa since the Bloc Québécois introduced a bill to allow assisted suicide in Canada.

Francine Lalonde (La Pointe-de-l’Île), the author of the bill, quite correctly suggested that assisted suicide is already quietly taking place in hospitals and hospices across Canada without any rules or guidelines. In her discussions with doctors, she discovered that many have privately admitted to her that they have helped some patients die.

What I found surprising is that the Bloc introduced this bill, not the NDP or the Liberals. All we ever hear about the Bloc here in Manitoba is that they are separatists with one focus — separating from Canada. In actual fact, at its core the Bloc is a social-democratic party that has introduced a lot of progressive legislation which even the NDP won’t touch.

As a result of Lalonde’s bill, Parliament began to debate whether to amend the Criminal Code and allow people who are terminally ill to receive assistance in ending their lives.

Bill C-407 outlined several criteria for assisted suicide: A person would have to be over the age of 18 years and make two requests more than 10 days apart; the person assisting in ending someone’s life would have to be a medical practitioner or have one assist with the suicide; and two medical practitioners would have to confirm that a person is, in fact, terminally ill and prove to the coroner upon the death of the person that it was an assisted suicide.

Surprisingly, in the latest opinion polls 75 per cent support assisted suicide.

“Those afflicted with terminal or debilitating diseases should be entitled to death with dignity, and to choose the time and the circumstances of their own deaths if they so wish,” Lalonde said in launching the debate.

So, how do you feel about this issue? I am caught in the middle of this debate. After all, we all will face an end-of-life situation at some point. Is assisted suicide ethical or is it a slippery slope that could allow people to take advantage of the more vulnerable persons in our society? Could this, as the Conservatives suggest, lead to euthanasia or worse? Do you remember how the Nazis dealt with the mentally ill and physically disabled people.

The NDP caucus is similarly divided on this issue, but the party generally agrees that there needs to be a debate on the issue of the right to die with dignity. The question is, what safeguards and guidelines should be put in place to ensure that the legislation is not abused?

What I’m most concerned about is that the upcoming election will derail this issue. I feel that assisted suicide is much too important to be ignored and must be debated.

Nick Ternette is a community and political activist, freelance writer and broadcaster.