A disturbing conference in Victoria, BC is slated to kick off in early June. It’s called the “Medical Assistance in Dying” conference, the first of its kind for medical professionals in Canada. Alex Schadenberg with the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, says the whole idea is troubling. “I’m very concerned about the drift toward acceptance of more and more killing for more and more reasons; the cultural shift that appears to be going on.” Schadenberg says the purpose of the conference is also questionable, because it will “give physicians who are killing their patients a speciality to say ‘I’m part of this special group, and I’ve received training, and now we have better rules about how we’re going to do it.”

Schadenberg says it appears that what they’re trying to do is normalize “what has always been considered homicide.” He also says it would be very interesting to find out if the event is underwritten with federal funds; so far he hasn’t been able to determine that.