In the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that imposed assisted suicide on Canada, the chief justices conceded the need for a “carefully designed system imposing stringent limits” on who would be eligible for a state-sanctioned death.

The federal government has introduced new legislation expanding the eligibility criteria for euthanasia. The inaccurate term, medical assistance in dying (MAiD), is currently used to describe what this law would allow, but the process is more accurately called euthanasia or assisted suicide.

Families lived frugally in the rural Nova Scotia community I called home until early adulthood.

Another of President Donald Trump’s men — this one longtime confidant Roger Stone — was sentenced last week after being convicted for lying to Congress and witness tampering. That makes eight Trump associates found guilty in court on various charges.

Compassionate care

As we face growing threats to the vulnerable with the extension of MAiD, Fr. Scott Lewis’ reminder that “survival depends on loving our neighbour” is timely.

The headlines ask if reconciliation is dead. The answer is no, but the latest crisis shows that the national aspiration of a new relationship with Canada’s Indigenous peoples remains in failing health and in need of acute care.

The news that Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche homes for people with mental handicaps, engaged in decades of sexual misconduct and falsely denied knowing about similar abuse by his mentor, Fr. Thomas Philippe, is shocking. Vanier was a saint in the eyes of many and also an icon for the future direction of the Church.

Fifteen years ago, on Feb. 12, a 73-year-old nun walked along a rural road in the Amazon region of Para state in Brazil. She was followed by two men with guns — Clodoaldo Carlos Batista and Raifran das Neves Sales. Both men worked for a livestock company. They asked her if she had any weapons. In response she showed them her Bible and began to read, “Blessed are the poor in spirit ….” 

Beauty surprised me last week when I walked out to the car with a small hand in mine: “Mommy, the road is sparkling!”