8123 Letters sent via the new EasyMail!

Euthanasia

As of June 17, Bill C-14 became law after bouncing back and forth between the Senate and House of Commons. This formally legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. Although this is a tragic choice, our leaders did so in full knowledge of the consequences and a much better alternative.

ARPA’s Legal and Policy Resources on Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia:

31 Jan 2019 A timeline of ARPA Canada’s engagement on the euthanasia issue

Posted at 12:41h in Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

Euthanasia has been a top priority issue for ARPA Canada over the past few years. 2015: ARPA intervened in Carter v. Canada, the landmark Supreme Court case which struck down the prohibition on assisted suicide. 2015: ARPA produced a paper showing the government that their legislative options included affirming a total ban of euthanasia. 2015: ARPA  engaged in direct lobbying on Bill C-14, which amended the Criminal Code to legalize physician-assisted suicide.  The Hill Times recorded ARPA Canada as having the top number of Parliamentary lobby meetings on this...

Read More

28 Jan 2019 CCA report leaves Parliament with many warnings about expanding euthanasia

Posted at 16:20h in Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

In December 2018, the Council of Canadian Academies completed a massive report on assisted suicide, and its possible expansion in Canada. Requested by the Ministers of Justice and Health and tabled in Parliament, this report was written “in order to inform a national dialogue among the Canadian public, and between the public and decision makers.” It’s helpful to define terms used in this article. The CCA reports makes consistent reference to “MAID”, which stands for “Medical Assistance in Dying”. We strongly object to this euphemistic term, since it intentionally...

Read More

21 Jan 2019 The push for expanding euthanasia continues: the Lamb case

Posted at 15:23h in Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

The movement to bring euthanasia and assisted suicide to Canada has been ongoing for decades. Despite the official legalization of physician-assisted suicide in June 2016, the movement wants more. While Parliament considers a 2018 report on expanding euthanasia, euthanasia advocates are pushing the boundaries of assisted suicide in a legal challenge in the British Columbia courts. ARPA Canada was an intervenor at the Supreme Court of Canada in the Carter case that ended the previous ban on euthanasia in Canada. We, and many other human rights advocates, pointed out that once the...

Read More

18 Jan 2019 Where is Canada going with euthanasia in 2019?

Posted at 12:04h in Current Action Items, Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

There's been several concerning developments relating to euthanasia in Canada in the past few weeks, and one exciting update as it relates to ARPA and a court case on euthanasia. In the video below, André touches on two things: First, ARPA's response to the Council of Canadian Academies report on euthanasia, in relation to expanding it to minors, those with mental disabilities, and for advance care directives Second, the exciting news that ARPA Canada, along with Bethesda Foundation in BC and the Anchor Association in Ontario, have been granted...

Read More

17 Jan 2019 Parliament considers protecting physician conscience rights

Posted at 18:28h in Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
1 Like

David Anderson, a Member of Parliament from Saskatchewan, has tabled a bill to protect conscience rights for health care professionals in Canada. This bill comes in response to a distinct lack of conscience protections in the recent change to the law allowing euthanasia. Anderson stated, “I believe it’s time to stand up for doctors and health care providers who aren’t willing to leave their core ethics behind when they’re at a patient’s bedside.” Bill C-418, would make it a criminal offence to intimidate or force a doctor or other health care provider...

Read More

17 Oct 2018 Physicians at SickKids discuss euthanasia for children

Posted at 23:24h in Blog, Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

by Daniel Zekveld In 2015, when the Supreme Court struck down the law against euthanasia, it dealt another blow to the dignity of human life. Canadian law now glorifies death as an autonomous choice. As if the list of people eligible to receive death at the hands of doctors was not long enough, Canadians are already discussing extending euthanasia to minors. As if the list of people eligible to receive death at the hands of doctors was not long enough, Canadians are already discussing extending euthanasia to minors. In an essay entitled, “Medical...

Read More

20 Sep 2018 Debate on expanding euthanasia continues, ARPA releases new policy report

Posted at 10:44h in Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

This fall, Parliament will examine the issue of expanding euthanasia to “mature minors” and to persons with mental illness. Since 2016 (Bill C-14), Canada has permitted anyone who is at least 18, has a grievous and irremediable medical condition, and whose death is reasonably foreseeable, to receive “medical aid in dying” (MAiD). To put it in stark terms, the law now permits medical professionals to kill their adult patients, as long as the patient consents and has the requisite medical conditions. In Spring 2015, ARPA released its first Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia...

Read More

30 Jul 2018 A new assisted suicide court challenge

Posted at 16:02h in Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

Julia Lamb and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) challenged Canada’s new assisted suicide legislation mere days after it was passed in 2016. Julia Lamb has spinal muscular atrophy, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, but she is not eligible for assisted suicide because her death is not “reasonably foreseeable” as required by the current law. The BCCLA asserts on Lamb’s behalf that “the federal government’s new bill leaves many seriously ill Canadians, like Julia, behind.” Lamb argues that by “leaving her behind”, or, in other words, by delaying her death, this...

Read More

03 Jul 2018 Euthanasia Rules Continue to Unravel

Posted at 08:00h in Euthanasia, Family, Justice and Freedom, Life 0 Comments
0 Likes

Peter Stockland (Lighthouse News – July 3, 2018) Two years have gone by since the passage of Bill C-14, the law that legalized euthanasia in Canada. Peter Stockland, the publisher of the Cardus Foundation’s “Convivium” magazine, marked the anniversary with an in-depth article on how the law has evolved since it was first implemented. He says it’s clear that the rules around Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) continue to be relaxed, as evidenced by some new statistics that came out just last week. “There was a 30-percent increase in the number...

Read More

06 Jun 2018 Health Canada wants your input as they develop a palliative care framework

Posted at 14:24h in Euthanasia, Life 0 Comments
2 Likes

Health Canada is conducting a consultation on palliative care. This is an excellent opportunity for us to provide input which will help them develop a framework on palliative care. We encourage you to participate by sharing the value of palliative care and how it can be promoted. This is a chance to have your voice heard! There are two ways you can participate: Online discussion Health Canada has set up a discussion page where you can leave a reply for each topic. They are putting up a new topic every couple of...

Read More