Palliative care missing in end-of-life debate
In the government’s rush to push Bill C-14, the medically assisted dying legislation, through the House of Commons, Canadians have been left very much on the sidelines.
OTTAWA – Hundreds of people gathered on Parliament Hill to protest against euthanasia June 1, the day after Parliament passed Bill C-14 to legalize the practice and sent it on to the Senate for royal assent.
OTTAWA – The Liberal government's assisted suicide legislation, which Canada's bishops describe as "fundamentally unjust" and an "affront to human dignity," easily passed third and final reading in the House of Commons May 31 and was sent to the Senate for final approval.
OTTAWA – A coalition representing vulnerable Canadians believes the lives of the disabled will be at risk due to a looming legal vacuum caused by the probable failure of the government’s assisted suicide Bill C-14 to be enacted by June 6.
Cardinal Lacroix warns of euthanasia dangers
OTTAWA – With the June 6 deadline fast approaching for the federal government to come up with a law around assisted suicide, Canada’s Catholic Primate has issued a challenge to all people of good will who know someone reaching the end stages of life.
Bill C-14 a total mess
Just when you thought the slide into assisted suicide couldn’t get worse, the Prime Minister elbowed into the fray to underscore, once again, the madness of Parliament’s dizzy sprint to pass a new law as if MPs were working on a 30-minute deadline to deliver a pizza.
It is all but impossible to discuss the multi-dimensional aspects of assisted suicide and euthanasia without a discussion of suffering. Suffering is the underlying factor around which the discussion on euthanasia ultimately takes place.
OTTAWA – A Senate committee has recommended that the government amend its controversial assisted-suicide bill to limit access to the terminally ill and to imbed conscience rights for institutions and health workers before the legislation is put to a vote in Parliament.
It’s a question that elicits conflicting opinions from constitutional lawyers who oppose euthanasia and assisted-suicide. They are divided on whether passing Bill C-14 without further amendments is preferable to no bill at all. The Supreme Court has given the government until June 6 to pass a law.
Amended C-14 includes nod to conscience protection
OTTAWA – An amendment to Canada’s proposed assisted suicide legislation fails to go far enough to protect conscience rights and religious freedom, say several opponents.
As the federal government prepares to pass new legislation for physician-assisted suicide by the Supreme Court’s June 6 deadline, Catholics are growing nervous about what options they have for the future.
Confusion with suicide
OTTAWA – Thousands descended on Parliament Hill May 12 for the annual National March for Life as the Liberal government within the walls of Parliament was rushing a bill through that will legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.
When it comes to Bill C-14, time is not on our side
It is possible that Canada’s Minister of Justice, Jody Wilson-Raybould, has a sense of humour or a real flair for irony, but odds are she meant what she said as the Liberal Government invoked time closure on May 4 and shut down debate on the assisted dying legislation.
Safeguards to assisted suicide quashed by Liberals
OTTAWA – Several opposition amendments intended to inject safeguards into the federal government's assisted-suicide legislation, including a proposal to explicitly limit doctor-assisted death to the terminally ill, were defeated as Liberal-dominated committee hearings began.