Tara Shannon is ready to #SpeakUp with new single “Say”

 Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Tara Shannon is known for her heartfelt and meaningful songs, but her latest single “Say” is extra special. The track is in support of Advance Care Planning Initiative in Canada’s #SpeakUp campaign, led by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Association (CHPCA). This initiative strives to encourage Canadians to

Canada’s Euthanasia Legislation: From the Perspective of Canadians with Disabilities

 By Peter McGrath. On Feb. 6, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s assisted suicide law, opening the door to physician-assisted suicide. This is an incredibly complex topic, one fraught with moral and ethical issues. Peter McGrath, a Counsel in the Department of Justice, gives his opinion from

When is it Okay for Doctors to Let Someone Die?

 By Dr. Charles J. Wright The long overdue public, medical, legal and political debate on end-of-life care is now well underway in Canada. Medical journals and the general press are commenting regularly on the subject, the Canadian Medical Association is changing its ethics guidelines, Quebec has decriminalized assisted dying and

Dying Badly in Canada

 Canadians now have a right to medically hastened death, but no right to quality palliative care A few days after the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the prohibition against doctor-assisted suicide, I received a note from a wonderful colleague of mine saying that her closest friend’s 53 year old son

Is it Time to Allow Assisted Suicide?

 Most Canadians do not have access to comprehensive palliative care This week, the Supreme Court of Canada has been hearing an appeal by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association that could grant terminally ill Canadians the right to assisted suicide. With this impending ruling and the passing of Bill 52 in