The British Columbia hospice that is trying to preserve its historical opposition to euthanasia is being taken to the Court of Appeal. Because of its views, the Delta Hospice Society (a member-run organisation) is likely to lose $1.5 million in funding from the Fraser Health Authority, a public health care authority in British Columbia. It Read more
A hospice in Canada is being forced to close after refusing to offer and perform medically assisted suicides. Lat week the Irene Thomas Hospice in Delta, British Columbia, lost $1.5 million in funding and its license to operate as a hospice. Fraser Health Authority, one of the six public health care authorities in the province, Read more
Quebec’s health minister, Danielle McCann, says consultation on extending the criteria for euthanasia is about to open. The new criteria will enable people to be euthanised if they can’t give informed consent or who will die of an illness in the more distant future. These include people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease and other degenerative conditions. Read more
The Anglican Church in Canada may be dead by 2040. This is the finding of a report delivered to leaders at the Anglican Council of General Synod meeting last week in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The document, written by Rev Neil Elliot; an Anglican priest, and commissioned by the Church, shows that within 20 years the Read more
A Canadian father who could not received ongoing financial support for his costly healthcare has died following a medically assisted suicide. Sean Tagert, 41, who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) agreed to having his life ended after years of struggle to find adequate care. His illness robbed him of the ability to move his Read more
Over one percent (2,613 people) of all deaths last year in Canada were the result of euthanasia, a new government report has revealed. The Fourth Interim Report on Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada, released this month by Health Canada, showed that from January to October of 2018, a total of 2,613 people in Canada Read more
In Canada alone, 9,000 religious venues will be lost by 2020. The National Trust for Canada says this amounts to one-third of faith-based buildings. Their imminent closure is a result of funding shortfalls. Read more
Euthanasia was authorised by Canada’s Supreme Court in June 2016. It was a controversial decision and the controversy is far from over. Three issues were left hanging: euthanasia for “mature minors”, euthanasia for people with mental illness, and advance directives for euthanasia. The government asked the Council of Canadian Academies to produce a report on Read more
Toronto’s Sick-Children’s hospital (Sick Kids) has published policies and procedures for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) that include scenarios where parents aren’t informed until after their child dies. The article by Sick Children’s doctors, administrators and ethicists and backed by the University of Toronto’s Joint Centre for Bioethics was published last month in British Medical Read more
Marijuana will become legal in Canada in October, but using it will remain a sin, Canada’s bishops say. It “violates the virtue of temperance” and should be avoided unless being used for medicinal purposes. “The virtue … ‘disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco or medicine,’” Frank Leo, Read more