Physician Assisted Suicide

I think the Supreme Court of Canada got it right in stating that individuals have the right to chose when they die. The next step is for the government to create a law that both reflects public opinion (Forum Research's  poll in 2011 indicated that 67% of Canadians were in favour; Angus Reid reported in late 2014 that the number had risen to 79%) and ensures that the new law protects people from being coerced to make this choice . For those who have had relatives dying a painful death and who have had to watch them suffer needlessly, I can only hope that they take some solace from the fact that our awareness of their grief has helped to shape our opinion.

I am not clear as to why people oppose others having a choice. There seem to be two types of arguments. One is that it puts people who are frail or disabled at risk.  While I can appreciate that someone might be concerned that tricking elderly people to sign the forms might be one way of resolving the expected upcoming crisis in nursing home beds - surely there will be enough safeguards in place to ensure that the individuals are competent to make that decision.  Other countries have figured out how to do that, we can too. I am more curious as to why people are so concerned that individual who are disabled are at risk. I am very aware of the eugenics movement in North America in the 1920-30s. The care that people who were disabled received in the community and in institutions well into the 80s was inadequate, abusive and in many cases increased or compounded the disability. Although we are a long way from being perfect in our support systems, I don't think that the conscious sterilization, incarceration or the murder of disabled people can happen again. However, if we were truly concerned about the lives of those who have a disability we would do something about the lack of meaningful opportunities for them and the fact that 50% of all people who are disabled in Canada live on about $10,000 a year.

I am co-guardian of a woman I have known for 30 or so years. She cannot express herself verbally, is not mobile and needs assistance in all activities of daily living. She is, by most people's definition, profoundly disabled. In the hundreds of hours I have spent with her and in meetings about her no one ever has suggested that her life has no value. I cannot imagine a time when anyone who knows her would ever suggests such a thing. People such as her are not at risk of being intentionally killed by their doctor.  In a country that does provide universal medical care - perhaps the fears have some legitimacy. But not in Canada. At least not yet.

The second argument about why people should not be able to decide to ask for help to end their life has something to do with morality or faith. I am quite confused about this approach. I heard someone say on TV that it is important that people need to experience the full range of experiences that they are offered; another said that doctors are getting so much better at providing palliative care that people should not give up. Bull crap!!!If someone is going to give me enough drugs so that I am alive and mainly comfortable but cannot meaningfully participate in my life - give me a bit more and I will pass on.

As we baby boomers continue to age and demand increased services designed for us (as we always have), physician assisted suicide will, for many people, be just another service to expect. We have always assumed that we had the right to chose what we thought was best for us.   This is no different.

Our Newest Security Plan Bill C-51 #2

Thirty-six or so hours ago, I was feeling pretty good. I had just posted a longer than normal blog ranting about the Harper's newest attempt to prove that he is the king of law and order. It was reasonable well written and while there was much left to be said, I thought it was a good start.  I was feeling rather pleased with myself. However, I woke up this morning with a very real sense that I need to do more. What - I am not too sure - but more I will do.

I have relatively little patience for people who sit on the side lines complaining about the human condition but who do nothing to affect change. I think for the past few years I have been telling myself that teaching college courses in sociology, diversity, social policy and community development was my way of being an agent of social change. That by helping students understand how the world works, how profoundly unfair it was and that they , in their chosen profession, would have the opportunity to affect change I was doing my little bit.  I think I may have been lying to myself.  However in the meantime......

As I was eating my breakfast and perusing the mainstream mass media outlets I noted that CBC had a piece on what CSIS is not going to be allowed to do. They, according to C-51 not allowed to

            "- Intentionally or by criminal negligence cause death or bodily harm.

                  - In any way trying to obstruct, pervert or defeat the course of justice.

                  - Violating the sexual integrity of an individual." (CBC)

Good to know. The super police who are going to have the right to investigate and then arrest me with less proof than normal just because they think I may commit a terrorist act have some limits placed on them.  I think I am suppose to feel reassured that the CSIS are not going to be able to sexually assault, hurt or kill anyone in their pursuit of the terrorists.

Maybe I was asleep the day it happen.... but when did Canada become a country where we had to enshrine in law the fact that police officers or any other agents of the government were not allowed to break the law?  I think the fact that it needs to be stated says something rather profound about our country.

I also noted that there was a lot of news about the RCMP's charging of three individuals with terrorism. Good for them. According to the Globe and Mail, parts of this investigation have been ongoing since 2011 (Globe and Mail). It is interesting to note that the arrest were possible without Bill CF-51 and that it started long before ISIL became a public concern. So why do our secret police need more powers? Just asking.

Our Newest Security Plan Bill C-51

I can't figure out if I am feeling angry, frustrated, scared or some weird hybrid emotion of all three. Regardless my brain, stomach and heart have been churning since last Friday when Harper announced his government's (please note that I don't say my government's or even the Canadian government's) plans for "improving" our capacity to catch those who would do us harm (CBC). While the proposed bill (C-51) is just one of long lists of offensive laws that the Harper government have brought into being, I find the rational for its creation particularly offensive.

As a child I was never impressed when a parent or a teacher told me that they were doing something for my own good. I am even less impressed as an adult when the leader of a party that was elected with only 39% of the votes tells me that a law is being passed for my own good. I am offended when someone says that Canadians want something but no one has asked me. If, and I question if it is true, that a majority of Canadians are afraid of some radical off-shore extremist creating havoc in this country, it is only because the government have continually harped on the fact that they should be afraid. Far too many main stream media have supported this agenda by having the same talking heads expounding the danger. It should surprise no one that various public entities such as the RCMP and CSIS have argued that they need more funding and more tools (read power) to prevent some imagined calamity from happening. Equally unsurprising are the comments from private security "experts'.  If I ran a private security consulting company I too would talk about all of the dangers and the need to increase funding.  There is this strange dialogue happening where the very absence of proof of a problem existing, becomes the proof that we need a better vacuum cleaner to find that mythical needle in the haystack.

There may be a problem that needs to be addressed. I have no way of knowing. The only people I see/read who are talking about the suggested dangers, clearly have an agenda. However, I have no doubt that there are hundreds, perhaps even thousands of people in the world who are bloody pissed off at the western world. Some (most) of their anger is legitimate. There are, without any doubt, some very disturbed individuals (Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau & Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi of ISIL are prime examples) out there who have attracted a large following  who appear to be fully prepared to do anything that they are ordered to do. We, as collective humanity, need to do something to stop them. Perhaps even more importantly we need to do something that will stop people from feeling so oppressed, deprived and disenfranchised that they see no other options but to kill or torture or oppress other people.

The sad thing is that we know what will change people's lives. It is not guns or bombs or telling how to behave. It is education. The Guardian reported that one in four children in the developing world cannot read.  That equates to a lot of people who have limited choices in life. The benefits of education are well known. For example girls who have had the opportunity to go to school become pregnant later and not as often, their children are healthier and are more likely to go to school and women who are educated are more engaged in the economy of their country (Empowerment International). Of certainly equal importance, if people learn to read, they can read their sacred texts themselves and won't need to listen to the insane interpretive ramblings of equally uneducated leaders.

While I am offended that Harper has decided to pander to his limited electoral base by focusing on security, I am more afraid for what he is not doing. By focusing on potential and unproven external threats, he has allowed/encouraged the media and Canadians in general to ignore real dangers to our country. And there are a number of them:

1) According the Canadian Mental Health Association, "suicide is the second highest cause of death for youth aged 10-24. Each year, on average, 294 youths die from suicide" (CMHA).

2) The youth unemployment rate hovers around 13.7% (CBC)

3) In spite of the fact that members of First Nations comprise about 4% of the Canadian population, 23.2% of Canadians in federal prisons are Aboriginal (Government of Canada).   

4) The Canadian government  "funds schools on reserves at a rate of about one-third less per student than provincial schools receive" (CBC)

5) 841,191 Canadians use food banks every month, one third of them are children (HungerCount 2014)

and the list goes on and on and on. And yet if there was a federal election tomorrow, according to at least one poll (Globe and Mail) more people would vote for the Conservatives that the other parties. Admittedly it might be a minority government but still Harper could still be Prime Minister.

It is not surprising that I am feeling angry, frustrated, and scared.