CANADA: Debating life's end

. OTTAWA, Ontario / The Ottawa Citizen / July 20, 2009 The deaths of a prominent British conductor and his terminally ill wife after drinking a fatal draught in a Swiss clinic this month have sparked an international debate about assisted suicide. Now, given a proposal by Quebec physicians, that debate is set to explode in Canada. And that is a good thing -- no matter what your view on euthanasia. The Quebec College of Physicians has taken what is certain to be a controversial step. It is preparing a statement calling for drug-induced euthanasia to be allowed under the Criminal Code in certain circumstances -- namely for terminally ill patients in extreme pain. The decision comes after the college appointed a task force which, after three years of studying the issue, concluded that Quebec society could tolerate euthanasia in certain circumstances. It proposed it be allowed "as part of the appropriate care in certain particular circumstances." The college hopes the statement will spark a public debate that will eventually put pressure on the federal government to amend the Criminal Code. It is certain to begin a debate. That is something the college's secretary Yves Robert correctly depicts as a good thing for Canadians. "Avoiding the debate contributes to the general hypocrisy around this issue," he told the Globe and Mail newspaper. "To say that it doesn't happen because it is illegal, is completely stupid. We have to stop hiding our head in the sand." Terminally ill patients sometimes require increased dosages of painkillers to alleviate their pain although that can prove fatal. It certainly happens across the country that terminally ill patients are sometimes quietly given more painkillers despite the risk that they could die as a result. Many people would conclude that is the most humane course of action. By failing to acknowledge this is happening now, the Quebec college is implicitly saying, Canadians do not have a proper understanding of what the tolerance level really is among Canadians for forms of euthanasia. Where is the line, for example, between failing to resuscitate an elderly and ill patient, and giving that same patient an extra dose of painkiller when the pain become unbearable? Where do most Canadians feel the line should be drawn? Or do people feel that as long as a person consents, his decision about when to end his life is of no concern to the rest of society? For many, a statement by the Quebec College of Physicians will represent the thin edge of the wedge that would eventually open the door in Canada to assisted suicide clinics similar to the one in Switzerland in which the conductor Edward Downes, 85, and his wife, Joan Downes, 74, a former ballerina suffering from terminal cancer, died last week. The couple died in a room in the clinic holding hands. "After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems," said a statement from their family. The double suicide has led to a debate in Britain and elsewhere about the dangers of euthanasia, including that, by making it easier to end a life, those who feel they are a burden on others or society may feel pressure to do so. A debate to clarify how Canadians view the issue should be welcomed. [rc] © Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen