News/Canada

Canadians and Britons are more open to physician-assisted suicide than Americans, a recent poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion has found.

Eighty per cent of Canadians and 77 per cent of the English said that doctors should be allowed to assist terminally ill, fully informed and competent patients to kill themselves. But only 56 per cent of Americans agreed.

The poll found 10 per cent of Canadians and nine per cent of Britons firmly opposed to physician-assisted suicide no matter who asks for it. Nearly one third — 29 per cent — of Americans said it should never be allowed. On the flip side, three-quarters of Canadians and Britons said physician-assisted suicide should always be allowed under specific circumstances, whereas only half of Americans thought so.

The problem with polls is that few respondents understand what’s meant by physician-assisted suicide, said Rita Marker, Patient Rights Council executive director.

“Those who are answering this poll could be viewing it as removing life support,” she said in an interview from Steubenville, Ohio. The Patient Rights Council is independent, but closely aligned with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Murky notions of palliative care and its availability fuel a fear-based response to polls on physician-assisted suicide in Canada, said Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

“Most Canadians support euthanasia or assisted suicide because they fear dying in pain or experiencing uncontrolled symptoms,” he wrote in an e-mail to The Catholic Register. “Fear is a normal human response and it should be respected.”

The poll reveals nothing new about British attitudes to physician-assisted suicide, said Charles Wookey, assistant general secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

“So far as the UK is concerned, in terms of opinion surveys this doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “What we’re seeing here to a degree is an instinctive, compassionate response from a society that prizes individual autonomy very highly.”

The Angus-Reid survey found 86 per cent of Canadians, 84 per cent of Britons and 69 per cent of Americans agree with the statement that “Legalizing doctor-assisted suicide would give people who are suffering an opportunity to ease their pain.”

People who believe laws against assisted suicide protect the vulnerable from social, economic and medical pressure to commit suicide face a major education challenge, said Wookey.

“It means there’s a very, very clear job for the Church to do, particularly in secular society,” he said.

But the Church can’t do it without allies, according to Wookey.

“What’s essential in this debate in this country is for it to be conducted in secular terms,” he said. “It’s an unfortunate fact that the religious argument or arguments based on the appeal to faith tend clearly not to persuade people who do not share the faith. They invite the response, ‘Don’t impose your faith-based views on the rest of us.’ ”

British bishops have teamed up with disability rights organizations and palliative care professionals to form an alliance called Care Not Killing — a purely secular platform to engage the public policy debate.

“When people are taken through the arguments and begin to understand first of all the quality of palliative care and what palliative care can provide, and secondly what the public policy consequences are for the most vulnerable members of society of a change in the law — what it might actually lead to — then very many people do actually change their minds,” said Wookey.

Getting people educated about the issue is essential because without a full debate economic issues will enter the equation, said Marker.

“We have to recognize the fact that all health programs are trying to save money,” she said. “By trying to save money the question is, will those health programs — if you say assisted suicide is a medical treatment — will they then do the right thing or the cheap thing?”

In Canada, availability and understanding of palliative care is key, said Schadenberg. He points to a 2010 Environics poll  that found 71 per cent of Canadians want governments to prioritize palliative care over euthanasia and assisted suicide. The 2011 Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care report Not To Be Forgotten is a start, he said.

“The real answer is to care for the needs of Canadians who are living with terminal conditions, chronic pain or disabilities,” said Schadenberg.

Angus-Reid’s online survey polled 1,003 Americans, 2,019 Britons and 1,003 Canadians between July 4 and 5. The margin of statistical error is plus or minus 2.2 per cent for Great Britain and plus or minus 3.1 per cent for Canada and the United States.

For the second time in a year the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) is under financial investigation.

“A financial investigator has now been appointed to our board,” acknowledged Barb Holland, board of trustees’ chair. “I don’t know where this is going to end up. I know we have said that we will co-operate fully with the people that are being sent in to do the investigation and we have been.”

Grahame Rivers, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said a poor financial track record is what caused the investigation.

"Windsor Catholic has a long history of developing overly optimistic annual budgets. They've failed to balance five out of the past six years," said Rivers. "Given the serious ongoing financial issues at the Windsor board, the Minister has brought in an investigator to look at the Windsor board's finances."

It could end with the ministry appointing a supervisor to overtake control of the board from the trustees and thus removing Holland from the picture.  

Last year WECDSB invited an auditor from the ministry as a response to the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association concerns regarding wages.

"OECTA was pointing out or suggesting that there were (financial) difficulties because the people at the top of our organization were overpaid,” said Holland. “We asked the ministry to come in, look at our books and they did so. It showed that what we’d been saying all along was correct, that we are under budget on all the items that we said we were.”

Despite filing a balanced budget for 2011-2012, which had a small surplus, said Holland, the board did overspend in certain areas — specifically on occasional teachers. This happened due to a higher number of teacher absences than were predicted when drawing up the budget in 2011. It's an issue Holland believes shouldn't constitute an audit because the board is already addressing it with an attendance management program.

Declining enrollment has been blamed for the WECDSB's financial struggles as ministry funding is provided on a per student basis.

Costs associated with maintaining under-utilized space also influenced the board's decision to close and consolidate several schools this June. Savings are estimated at $11 million.

But Holland said she thinks this second audit isn't about financial instability as much as it relates to the board filing for conciliation to resolve collective bargaining difficulties it is having with its teachers.

“I do feel that it is a retaliatory measure and it is retaliation because we spoke out on this issue,” said Holland. “If this goes to our board being put under supervision, what happens to our community of Windsor-Essex is that the ratepayers lose their voice.”

Upset by some key terms of the recent contract negotiated between the teachers’ union and the provincial government, two Ontario Catholic school boards have filed for conciliation and are intent on making their own deal with the teachers.

The London Catholic District School Board and the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board believe the government deal strips the boards of important hiring and managerial rights. They want to make their case before a conciliator from the Ministry of Labour as the next step to reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

London board chair Philip Squire, a lawyer, says the deal reached between the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association and the Ontario government is not legally binding unless school boards agree to the terms individually or it is legislated by the province.

“We want to go to conciliation with OECTA and we want to work out an agreement with them which will be an agreement negotiated between us and OECTA, the two parties that should be negotiating,” Squire said. “OECTA went to the weakest link, which was the government — desperate to save money — and they made an agreement with them which transferred pretty significant rights to the teachers’ union.”

That agreement included a two-year wage freeze, changes to the sick leave gratuity and a cut in sick days. But the London and Windsor-Essex boards are upset that the deal stripped them of rights pertaining to hiring practices and the administration of diagnostic testing.

“This is the piece that people are missing, that the vital checks and balances that are part of our success are being removed,” said Barb Holland, chair of the Windsor-Essex board. “I find it interesting that these are non-monetary issues so I don’t understand why we cannot simply just address them and find a common ground on that.”

The boards are requesting the intervention of a conciliator from the Ministry of Labour. If an impasse remains after 17 days, the door could be opened for a legal strike by teachers or a lockout of teachers by the board.

Squire said agreements signed under the government’s guidelines would make seniority the overriding qualification when hiring a permanent teacher from the occasional teachers’ list.

“Let’s say we need a teacher to hire in a secondary school for a particular subject. We wouldn’t have the right any more to go hire the teacher best suited for that job, we would just have to hire the teacher who is most senior on the list,” said Squire. “That’s something that we cannot agree to for students in our schools. It’s not the best thing for students.”

Likewise, giving teachers control over diagnostic testing is wrong, said Squire. He said these tests evaluate individual students and the classroom as a whole and are a reflection of the overall effectiveness of the teaching. Squire fears teachers may now simply refuse to administer the tests.

“Now if we want to go into a classroom to do that testing there is a veto there for teachers to say, ‘No we don’t want to do that, we are doing just fine, I’m a good teacher and my kids are doing just fine,’ ” he said. “Parents want to know that there is some responsibility on teachers to make sure kids are learning.

“The teachers should have to show to the principals and superintendent that they’re doing a good job.”

But this type of compare-and-contrast evaluation isn’t the purpose of diagnostic testing, said Kevin O’Dwyer, OECTA’s provincial executive.

“Diagnostic testing isn’t about evaluating a teacher,” he said, adding that he’d have to talk further with Squire about it. “I hope it is not being used to evaluate teachers.”

Squires’ fears regarding teachers vetoing the tests are unfounded, said O’Dwyer, who said encouraging a student’s success — not hiding poor grades — is in a teacher’s best interest.

“We didn’t get fifth in the world by teachers doing what Mr. Squire is alleging they’re doing,” O’Dwyer said of the ranking given the Ontario school system by PISA, the Program for International Student Assessment.

As for the hiring practice, O’Dwyer said the boards still retain considerable control. When a position opens, the new agreement requires boards to use seniority as the basis to identify five qualified occasional teachers. From that select group, the board can then assess a teacher’s specific skills and other qualifications before it fills a position.

“Mr. Squire is incorrect when he says it’s based on seniority only. That’s false. It’s also based upon qualifications as it always has been,” said O’Dwyer.

Atheists are taking Ontario's Grey County to court to force county council to stop praying the Our Father at the start of meetings.

Peter Ferguson of Kimberly, Ont. — one of nine municipalities in the county on the shores of Georgian Bay — served legal papers on the county July 30 alleging the practice of reciting a Christian prayer at the beginning of a government meeting is illegal. In 1999 the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that Penetanguishine, Ont., was violating constitutional guarantees of freedom of religion under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by starting council meetings with The Lord's Prayer.

Ferguson is seeking an end to the practice along with $5,000 in damages.

As far as Catholic Civil Rights League executive director Joanne McGarry is concerned, going to court over prayer is just sad.

"I always find it very distasteful or off-putting when prayer turns into something people are just battling about," she said.

Ferguson's court case is backed by Secular Ontario, an offshoot of the Humanist Association founded in 2005 with about 20 members.

Secular Ontario president Sheila Ayala told The Catholic Register an important principle is at stake in the case.

"Council meetings are open to the public. It's important that everybody is included," she said. "The principle is that we all pay taxes to where we live. We ought to be included but we're being excluded."

No disrespect is being aimed at the traditions of Ontario or religious conviction of three-quarters of Ontarians who align themselves with Christian faith, said Ayala.

"We're not stopping anybody from going to their synagogue or their mosque or whatever. We're not saying you can't practise whatever religion you want."

But Ayala does believe expressions of religious faith have no place in the public sphere.

Secular Ontario has sent letters to about 28 municipalities where reciting the Our Father at council meetings persists, said Ayala.

"We're having to take them to court again. They're not complying with what in fact is the law. They are breaking the law," she said.

"Court challenges of this kind are unfortunate. It just causes a lot of grief to people that we don't really need to have," said McGarry.

McGarry supports councils that wish to pray at the start of their meetings.

"It's like grace before meals," she said. If there's a need to be more inclusive, then rotate the prayers among the faith traditions of the community, she said.

"One week it might be Christian and the next week Muslim and the following week it could be more secular, a moment of reflection," McGarry said.

When the issue came up at the Ontario Legislature in 2008, Toronto's Cardinal (then Archbishop) Thomas Collins argued against a simplistic, ahistorical interpretation of the word secular.

"It is important not to be befuddled by a distorted view of the secular, one which holds that all life in the public realm must be meticulously sterilized lest a hint of faith intrude," he told legislators.

Collins was not against non-Christian prayers being used to open public debates, but argued tradition and the large Christian majority ought to assure the Our Father remains.

"It is highly appropriate that the deliberations of those whom we elect as our representatives should begin with prayer," he said. "Religion is not alien or dangerous. It is fruitful and life-giving and any effort to eliminate evidence of it in public assemblies is misguided... The Lord's Prayer has the advantage that it is part of our historical tradition, it is a contribution from the spiritual heritage of almost three-quarters of our citizens and it is at the same time open to wider application by any people of faith, and in fact by anyone."

TORONTO - On the feast day of Jesus' grandparents, a eucharistic celebration in honour of new Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick was held at St. Michael's Cathedral July 26, where his own grandparents were married about 100 years ago.

For the third straight year, Chalice, a Catholic charity based in Nova Scotia, has been awarded an overall “A” rating by MoneySense magazine in its “Charity 100” list. 

The Canadian business magazine annually publishes its ratings of the biggest 100 charities in Canada based on four categories — charity efficiency, fundraising efficiency, governance and transparency and reserve fund size. And each year, Chalice, primarily a sponsorship program between Canadians and children in developing nations that also runs mission trips and raises money for disaster relief, has received top marks.

For Chalice marketing manager Sehne Connell, the rating means the world.

“We look forward to this magazine and we really hope that we continue with our A rating,” Connell said. “It’s really, really important to us because it confirms to our existing sponsors and donors that they are part of an organization that can be trusted with their donations.”

It’s also an extra marketing boost that makes a difference to this small charity, which relies primarily on word of mouth. 

“It allows others to get to know who we are,” Connell said. “We don’t spend a lot of money on … advertising. We rely on people to spread the word and let others know about Chalice.”

Connell said the main reason Chalice is so tight with its advertising budget is because of the “golden ratio” — that is, sending 92-93 per cent of all donations overseas, to the children.

“Every decision we make and expense we have to incur, we make sure upfront that we are going to be able to send (that percentage of) money to the children,” he said.

It’s also why, according to Connell, the charity only received a B rating in the “reserve fund size” category.

“We just don’t believe that we should keep money back and have a big reserve,” Connell explained. “The money we do have — four months reserve — is where we want to keep it.”

But the B rating in the “governance and transparency” section is something Connell says Chalice will be working on.

“We need to look at improvement. We’re not showing enough (financial information) on our web site,” he said. “We just need to get up there. That’s not something we would ever hide. It’s open to anybody.”

In the other two categories, “charity efficiency” and “fundraising efficiency,” Chalice received two A+ grades. In the section of International Aid and Development charities, in which Chalice fit, the only other organizations to receive an overall A rating were Free the Children and Compassion Canada, another sponsorship program.

For Connell, it’s not just about awareness, but also acknowledgment of hard work. 

“We love the work that we do and we get to see the results in the field and the difference that it makes,” he said.

“It’s rewarding to see that you get recognition.”

The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is hiring, but by the time the new employees are at their desks the Catholic aid agency will have reduced its full-time staff by 15 per cent.

Staff reductions became inevitable this spring when the Canadian International Development Agency reduced funding to D&P by more than $30 million over the next five years.

The six job openings — two full-time permanent positions and four part-time contract jobs — are filling vacancies that have come up over the last year from retirements, expired contracts and voluntary resignations, said executive director Michael Casey. D&P had frozen all hiring over the last year while awaiting a funding decision from the government.

After two years working with CIDA officials on a plan for continued development work in Africa, Asia and Latin America, then CIDA Minister Bev Oda announced in March her government would extend funding to select projects in just seven countries, leaving most of the 186 projects D&P runs in 30 countries unfunded.

In June D&P’s national council approved a restructuring plan that will reduce staffing 15 per cent by Sept. 1. The plan reduces its budget by $5 million this year.

But the Canadian partner in the international Caritas network is also planning for a future with less government support. The organization is shifting resources into fundraising and outreach in what some are calling a “re-launch.”

“The restructuring plan was developed following an extensive consultation process with our membership and staff over the past year as the organization adapts to new challenges in our external environment, most notably the significant reduction in government financial support for our international programs,” wrote Casey in an e-mail to The Catholic Register.

The new positions are posted at www.devp.org and in this edition of The Catholic Register.

Ontario's Catholic Women's League has put its support behind infrared breast screening thermography while expressing opposition to youth indoor tanning.

These resolutions were passed at the 65th annual Ontario provincial convention of the CWL, which took place in Kingston, Ont., July 9 to 11.

Marlene Pavletic, president of the provincial council, told The Catholic Register that each of the resolutions passed with little debate.

“What we try to do is focus on the actual material, ensuring that we’ve got good Canadian material (that’s) current,” Pavletic said. “We’ve gone in depth to make sure our briefs are solid.”

The first resolution, prepared by the St. Catharine’s Diocesan Council, looks at infrared breast screening thermography as an alternative to mammograms.

“There is a concern about the extra radiation that women are getting from mammograms, and thermography doesn’t have any radiation,” Pavletic explained.

This cancer detection treatment has not been approved in Ontario, but the council will now be insisting the Ontario Ministry of Health take another look.

“We would like them to re-do some studies on it with the modern technology of thermography,” Pavletic said.

For the second resolution, which was prepared by the Kingston council, the provincial council is joining many other advocacy groups pressing the government to prohibit the use of indoor tanning equipment by youth.

“It’s a public health issue,” Pavletic said. “Our concern is that melanoma is one of the most serious cancers and the most common types of cancers.

“We thought that if we could urge the government to prohibit the use of it before the age of 18, that might perhaps decrease the incidence of it.”

Local MPP John Gerretsen was on hand to address the delegates at the opening ceremony. He said efforts like those of the Ontario CWL will slowly but surely make a difference.

“I urged them to continue advocating,” he said. “One of the things that they’ve done over the last two or three years is have information sessions at Queen’s Park with members of all political parties, and I urged them to continue with that.”

ST. CATHARINES, ONT. — During Bishop Wayne Kirkpatrick's July 25 ordination, significant figures in his life raced through his mind.

"I was thinking of my parents," he told The Catholic Register, after becoming the newest auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Toronto. "I was thinking of Bishop Thomas Fulton who ordained me."

He was also thinking about the years he spent at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria in St. Catharines, where the ordination took place.

"I've been here for 14 years altogether and I was ordained here."

Kirkpatrick said his new ministry is going to be a greater responsibility.

"Definitely in the laying on of hands, I could feel that responsibility coming upon me."

Born in St. Catharines on June 5, 1957, Kirkpatrick studied at St. Jerome's College at the University of Waterloo, earning a bachelor of arts in philosophy before entering St. Augustine's Seminary in 1980 where he completed a masters of divinity before being ordained to the priesthood in 1984. He also studied at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, where he earned a Licentiate (masters) of canon law in 1990.

The move to the archdiocese of Toronto is going to be difficult, Kirkpatrick acknowledged.

"It's always difficult to uproot but I think life is a series of uprootings," said Kirkpatrick. "This is a big one but certainly one that with the prayers and support of the people of St. Catharines and Toronto, I'll be able to make that."

As auxiliary bishop, Kirkpatrick will oversee care of the pastoral needs of the northern pastoral region of the archdiocese of Toronto. He has also been appointed as episcopal vicar for religious institutes of men and women in the archdiocese and episcopal vicar for the francophone community. As well, he is now titular bishop of Aradi.

St. Catharines' Bishop Gerard Bergie called the ceremony both beautiful and moving.

"I can't help but feel pride, not a sinful pride, but pride in that the diocese has provided a wonderful ceremony and provided a wonderful priest to the archdiocese of Toronto," said Bergie.

Kirkpatrick will be greatly missed, said Bergie, who has worked with the new bishop since arriving in the diocese in November 2010.

"We started in the seminary together so I've known him for many years. When I was new to the diocese, he was a great help to me and always there for me, very supportive, very knowledgable, so I'll always be indebted.

"Truly, Toronto's gain is our loss," he added.

Laurier LePage, a senior server at the Cathedral for the past 28 years, grew up in the same area in St. Catharines as Kirkpatrick and the two were schoolmates.

"As he became a priest in St. Catharines, I started to see him again… I was glad to see him come back. It was great. It was like old times together again."

Deborah LePage, Laurier's wife, lived two houses down from the Kirkpatricks.

"From seeing him play cowboys and Indians in the backyard, then to a priest, then to a monsignor and now, this is unreal. It's really unreal.

"It just makes my heart throb," she said. "I was in tears."

Thomas Brown, 40, a parishioner at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, has known Kirkpatrick for about 15 years.

"I'm just so happy for him to become a bishop," he said, adding that he'll miss him very much.

During the homily, Cardinal Thomas Collins said people's lives are touched by the ministry of an apostle of the Lord.

"As bishops, we need to work hard to be spiritually fruitful," he told the packed cathedral.

Mentioning courageous saints such as Francis de Sales, Charles Borromeo and John Fisher, Collins described various challenges they faced such as evangelizing a society that had fallen away from the faith.

"The challenge is great but we have mighty heroes," he said.

The episcopal motto chosen by Kirkpatrick is "Abide in me," said Collins.

"And these words guide all of us as disciples," he said.

After the ordination, Kirkpatrick was absorbing the events of the day, which took place on the feast of St. James.

"I'm the kind of person that reflects upon all that's taken place so as the day wears on and tomorrow I'll be thinking more about what's taken place."

Investiture with ring, miter and pastoral staff

The Ring

The first insignia to be received by the bishop during the rites of ordination is the ring. Upon handing over to the newly ordained bishop the ring, the principal ordaining bishop says, "Take this ring, the seal of your fidelity. With faith and love, protect the bride of God, His holy Church." The ring symbolizes discretion, since rings were used to seal private documents and the ring represents the symbolic marriage between the bishop and the Church.

The Miter

The next insignia which is given to the newly ordained bishop during the rites of ordination is the miter. The miter is a headdress which points upwards towards heaven. It is a mark of the bishops' office and a symbol of their authority.

The Crozier (also called the pastoral staff)

The last symbol given to the newly ordained bishop is the crozier. The principal ordaining bishop says, "Take this staff as a sign of your pastoral office: Keep watch over the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has appointed you to shepherd the Church of God." Each bishop is a symbol of Christ the Good Shepherd. The crozier also symbolizes the responsibility that the bishop has in leading all to Christ.

The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is expanding its commitment to 18 million west Africans in the Sahel region threatened with starvation.

The Catholic aid and development agency is working with Caritas Internationalis to launch food and seed distribution projects in Mauritania, Chad and Senegal to reach 300,000 people. The new projects are in addition to programs for 19,500 households in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. D&P is funding the Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso program along with Canadian Foodgrains Bank.