The family doctor who co-founded the grassroots group Living with Dignity in 2010 and the Physicians’ Alliance for Total Refusal of Euthanasia last year died suddenly Dec. 29 at his cottage at the age of 65.
“He had the strength to gather people around common goals,” said Living with Dignity director Linda Couture. “A man of action, a man of great thoughtfulness, Bourque was at the forefront of defending the rights of the most vulnerable, ensuring they receive care most appropriate to their condition at all times.”
Dr. Bourque began to play a lead role in the anti-euthanasia fight in the fall of 2009 when the Quebec College of Physicians came out with a report urging debate on opening the door to offering medical aid to die, said Couture.
The Parti Quebecois government has promised to put forward a bill this spring that would bring in the recommendations of the Dying with Dignity Commission’s report that would pave the way to decriminalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide.
“A big hole has been created,” said Couture, who said members of Living with Dignity will have to find someone else willing to take an active role. Dr. Bourque remains an example for the coming challenges, she said. “He was always hopeful. When there was a challenge he was always cheerful and positive.”
Dr. Catherine Ferrier, a family doctor and assistant professor at Montreal’s McGill University, worked closely with Dr. Bourque in establishing the Physician’s Alliance.
“We’re limping, there’s no doubt about it,” she said.
She described Dr. Bourque as highly respected in the medical field, as head of general medicine at Centre hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal and a family doctor who was “very close to his patients and concerned about them” as well as “close to his family.”
Dr. Bourque took a professional risk to become a well-known name identified with euthanasia, said Ferrier.
“It did not help him to be identified as the anti-euthanasia guy, but it was a risk he took knowing it might not be helpful to him.
“It is a huge loss, a massive loss,” said Euthanasia Prevention Coalition executive director Alex Schadenberg, who travelled from London, Ont., to attend the funeral Mass celebrated by Montreal Archbishop Christian Lépine. But Schadenberg said other talented leaders in Quebec can step forward to try to fill his shoes.
“It is so very sad to see one of Quebec’s greatest defenders of life pass away,” said Catholic Organization for Life and Family director Michele Boulva, who travelled from Ottawa to attend the funeral.
Dr. Bourque “fought government efforts to turn euthanasia into ‘appropriate medical care’ in certain circumstances and he never ceased to promote palliative care,” said Boulva, who described him as “a saintly man.”
She praised the way he poured his life into his family, his work and into furthering the common good.
“May his example encourage many others to pursue the struggle for the respect of every human life until its natural end,” she said.
Dr. Bourque was one of the speakers at the founding meeting of the Canadian Federation of Catholic Physicians’ Societies (CFCPS) in 2009.
“From all across Canada, we were saddened by the sudden loss of an important figure to the physician community in Quebec,” said Dr. Tim Lau, the CFCPS founding and past president.
He described Dr. Bourque as a “distinguished and committed physician who inspired others” to “find the true dignity of man, both in his origin and his end.”
“As a champion of the defenseless he will be sorely missed,” said Lau.