Discussion Canadians: Justice Canada Wants Your Input on Medical Assistance in Dying

[LegaliseIt!]

Dear Canadian Friends,

In the time I have left, I am advocating for improvements to Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying Laws.

Some Examples:

MAID for Mental Illness
MAID through Advance Directive
MAID when Death is not Immediately Foreseeable

Justice Canada is asking for the opinions of concerned Canadians whose needs are not being met by the current MAID law.

Please take 10 minutes and visit this link (I hope it works) to make it known that Canada's current MAID law does not meet the needs of suffering Canadian citizens.

https://www.canada.ca/en/department...canadians-on-medical-assistance-in-dying.html

This may be the link to the press release, and you may have to jump into the survey from there. Last chance to do survey is 27 January, 2020.

The actual survey is foundby clicking on the hyperlink "online public consultation" about one-third down the press release page. Then, one must scroll to a blue bar that says "Begin Questionnaire" . They don't make it easy!

Please help future Canadians by having humane laws in place so that they won't have to sneak around like criminals when their suffering becomes too great. Let's leave a legacy of hope behind!

Thank you all, peace and hugs.

 

[Backwood_tilt]

MAID when Death is not Immediately Foreseeable

From what i understand this is the already going to be changed in the federal law, and the fed gov't will work with the provinces to strike out this requirement (which has been deemed unconstitutional).

Does anyone with legal background have a sense of how long this process is going to take? I'm worried it will be a drawn out legal process that will take months more to settle.

 

[LegaliseIt!]

It is only up for change in Quebec right now.
The official review before change is in 5* years, and that's why public input is crucial.
Alberta is moving toward tightening the existing law. (The Conscience Act . I forget the Bill number). It's a Provincial response to a Federal Law, so it will be a fight.
The sad point is:
It comes down to numbers when MPs begin the review. The data is crunched, and lines are drawn.
Churches are good at jumping on these consultations and getting their pro-life votes in. Those of us who struggle to get out of bed, not so much. Our pro-choice votes don't get heard.
These surveys seem useless, but sadly they are a policy tool. I wish it was a more well thought out process. It isn't.
*I think 5 years from 2016, so 2021.

 

[alizee]

From what i understand this is the already going to be changed in the federal law, and the fed gov't will work with the provinces to strike out this requirement (which has been deemed unconstitutional).

Does anyone with legal background have a sense of how long this process is going to take? I'm worried it will be a drawn out legal process that will take months more to settle.

No, there isn't any certainty at this point that the foreseeable death requirement will be removed.

Theoretically it seems likely the requirement of a foreseeable death will be removed for Quebec. We will only find out when March comes but this very well will play into how other provinces react. The judgement in Quebec (that happened in September of last year) gave until March for when the ruling will go into effect for Quebec citizens if nobody interferes with the ruling.

The questionnaire is somewhat important. David Lametti (Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada) has been against MAID in the past.

 

[nw7]

Here a video from CBC about the subject.

 

[LegaliseIt!]

This is our chance to speak up.

Yesterday, in churches across the country, hundreds of pro-lifers were being exhorted by their "leaders" to participate in this survey.

If we don't speak up, our lawmakers will assume that Canadians are happy with the law as it exists.

Please take five minutes to complete the survey. Let's tell the government about our needs. The current law is a start, but we still have to sneak around like criminals.

Thank you for supporting pro-choice views.

Peace and compassion,
L.

 

[nw7]

Sorry to hijack your thread @LegaliseIt! I hope you don't mind.

Here is another videos from CBC about the subject. It includes 2 interviews. The second interview starts at 05:05 is about assisted death for people with mental illness.

 

[Grandexit]

How amazing would it be not to have to end it alone in a sad hotel, desolate patch of wilderness, random rooftop or empty house? Going through the indignity of having someone discover your rotting corpse. But scheduling your end at at a nice clean medical facility with trained people to help your transition. Maybe even incorporate pre loss support for family of the soon to be departed. Why can't death have the same level of dignity as scheduling a cosmetic procedure?

No digging around the internet for methods that we hope wouldn't leave us writhing in agony. No gambling with getting ripped off or arrested. No risking botching it and being a vegetable. I couldn't imagine how much better my life would be right now if I didn't have to resort to secretive and sad research, clandestine purchases, gnawing uncertainty, making my family deal with the shock and horror after the fact. How are we still so unevolved about the one thing every single person has in common: death?

 

[LegaliseIt!]

How amazing would it be not to have to end it alone in a sad hotel, desolate patch of wilderness, random rooftop or empty house? Going through the indignity of having someone discover your rotting corpse. But scheduling your end at at a nice clean medical facility with trained people to help your transition. Maybe even incorporate pre loss support for family of the soon to be departed. Why can't death have the same level of dignity as scheduling a cosmetic procedure?

No digging around the internet for methods that we hope wouldn't leave us writhing in agony. No gambling with getting ripped off or arrested. No risking botching it and being a vegetable. I couldn't imagine how much better my life would be right now if I didn't have to resort to secretive and sad research, clandestine purchases, gnawing uncertainty, making my family deal with the shock and horror after the fact. How are we still so unevolved about the one thing every single person has in common: death?

Exactly! My mum had legal MAID here in Canada, and it is so humane compared to what "invisibly ill"people must go through. We are treated like criminals due to superstitious medieval laws.
People with "invisible" illnesses, dementia type illnesses, and mental disorders are currently excluded.

Because we are in pain and often have difficulty functioning, pro-life groups have higher response rates on these "raw data" people count surveys.

Survey deadline: 27 January 2020.

 

[Elekrel]

How amazing would it be not to have to end it alone in a sad hotel, desolate patch of wilderness, random rooftop or empty house? Going through the indignity of having someone discover your rotting corpse. But scheduling your end at at a nice clean medical facility with trained people to help your transition. Maybe even incorporate pre loss support for family of the soon to be departed. Why can't death have the same level of dignity as scheduling a cosmetic procedure?

No digging around the internet for methods that we hope wouldn't leave us writhing in agony. No gambling with getting ripped off or arrested. No risking botching it and being a vegetable. I couldn't imagine how much better my life would be right now if I didn't have to resort to secretive and sad research, clandestine purchases, gnawing uncertainty, making my family deal with the shock and horror after the fact. How are we still so unevolved about the one thing every single person has in common: death?

With assisted suicide, their families will have closure instead of the trauma and the hundreds of unanswered questions that families and friends have to deal with now, after a suicide. it would be something different to years to come. they had six months to rewrite the whole bill for quebec and another two weeks for this survey? if i have wrote down that i wanted to commit suicide, they would not help me. You have no idea of the long standing, absolutely hopeless sense some people with mental illnesses have. having to have an option like this would be ideal since i wouldn't be the one to do so. Hopefully in these cases the people in these dire situations can be fast tracked into treatment/therapy that they haven't tried.

i personally work with the older generation through long-term care homes/facilities. you can see all the troubles through they go through.. pain.. memory loss.. i wouldn't wish for any person to sit in a diaper and lay in their death bed without any "simple" treatment. here is a Tylenol because your back is hurting because there is not enough staff to turn you every hour or two. nurses are busy and trying to push a lot of work on their nursing aids. im just ranting here personally, but they need to fix the whole system because people are suffering all over.

 

[chris8000]

People with "invisible" illnesses, dementia type illnesses, and mental disorders are currently excluded.

As far as I can tell in Canada it is only legal for terminally ill people, so I can appreciate why your campaigning for further changes @LegaliseIt! You have my support, although that doesn't really help you

It seems to me the Netherlands have the best system where it is legal when 'the patient's suffering is unbearable with no prospect of improvement '. This makes sense to me, because that's the situation I am in, and I find the idea of no state sanctioned way out of this bewildering. I have always liked Dutch people and they are ahead of the game with cannabis laws too.

 

[TAW122]

Is the survey only limited to Canadian citizens or could anyone participate in the survey?

@chris8000 Agreed and while there is still a ways to go with the law in terms of being even freer, it is the best we have in the world currently.

 

[LegaliseIt!]

Is the survey only limited to Canadian citizens or could anyone participate in the survey?

@chris8000 Agreed and while there is still a ways to go with the law in terms of being even freer, it is the best we have in the world currently.

Sadly, this survey is limited to Canadians over age 18.
Only 7 days left to provide pro choice opinions to Justice Canada. Please share our voices to help future Canadians suffering from mental illness, those diagnosed with dementia, and those who are terminally ill, yet not "foreseeable" (ie. suffering).

Pro life groups have mobilized around this like flies to honey.

We may be exhausted.
We may have cried for hours today.
This may be our first time online in a week.
We may be practicing our ctb.
We may be writing our final notes.
PLEASE, take the time to make your voice count before you go.
Visit the link to this online survey above.
Every pro choice Canadian that speaks out cancels a pro life vote in these "raw data" counts.
It truly matters. 6 days left.

 

[TAW122]

@LegaliseIt! Aww, that sucks, I had a lot to say there, but as an non-Canadian citizen, my opinion would be null and void. At any rate, all fellow Canadians who support the right to die and death with dignity should hop on that site to show their support.