ARPA Note: It is very good news to see the huge support for Motion 388. Mr. Albrecht kindly did a video interview with ARPA Canada about this issue, encouraging everyone at our recent events to contact their MP in support of it. The passing of this is especially encouraging given the private member’s bill in our House of Commons that proposes to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. Consider sending a note to Mr. Albrecht, thanking him for his efforts with this motion ([email protected]).
By Linda Nguyen, Canwest News Service, Nov 18/09: A motion that overwhelmingly passed in the House of Commons Wednesday is the first step toward a bill seeking to clarify in the Criminal Code that helping or encouraging anyone over the Internet to commit suicide is illegal. The motion passed by a 230-0 margin. Harold Albrecht, a Conservative MP from Ontario who put it forward, said he was “pleasantly surprised” it received so much support. [Keep reading this article here.]
There have been an incredible number of changes and articles over the past few days concerning euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada.
First: Francine Lalonde (Bloc MP) has now traded her date for the second hour of debate on C-384 twice. C-384 is the bill that would legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. The original date for the second hour of debate was Monday Nov 16. A couple of days ago we learned that she had traded with another Bloc MP to move the date back to Nov 19. Yesterday we learned that she traded with another Bloc MP to move the date back to Tuesday, December 1 at 5:30pm with the vote taking place on December 2nd. The protest by disability rights advocate Steven Passmore will now be on December 1st from 4:00 to 5:30 pm.
ARPA Note: Everyone who has come to one of our more recent events will have seen the short video we presented featuring Canadian MP Harold Albrecht (on right) talk about the tragic story of Nadia Kajouji and the need for support of his Motion (M-388) against counselling online for assisted suicide. The Fifth Estate recently aired an excellent documentary about Nadia’s story. Click here to watch the documentary online. Click here to read more about Albrecht’s motion and download the petition from our website.
Ottawa Citizen, Oct 25/09: TORONTO — Ottawa police now say they decided not to pursue charges against a Minnesota man who coaxed 18-year-old Nadia Kajouji into suicide online because they believe she was not sufficiently influenced by him. The admission was made during a briefing given to Nadia’s mother, Deborah Chevalier, by the Ottawa force’s lead investigator on the case. Chevalier taped the briefing and provided it to the Citizen. [Keep reading this story here.]
Since ARPA Canada started we have been encouraging our readers to be proactive and respond to the growing push for euthanasia and assisted suicide. Sure enough, a bill has now been introduced in Parliament that has the goal of legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia. It is scheduled for debate in Parliament at the end of September. The time to act is now!
Details of Bill C-384
Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde has introduced this private members bill, her third attempt at doing so. The two previous attempts only failed because elections were called. It is very unlikely that an election will be called before this bill is voted on. Be prepared for a major public and Parliamentary debate on this issue through the fall and winter.
The full text of C-384 is available by clicking here. In their analysis of this bill, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition points out that “Bill C-384 does not limit intended death to the terminally ill and it does not define terminal illness.” Added to this, the bill “allows intended death for people who experience depression or other chronic mental conditions.” They also state that “Bill C-384 measures competency based on “appearing to be lucid”. The term “appearing to be lucid” does not assure that the individual is actually lucid.” Click here to read the full analysis from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.
With a bill having been introduced only weeks ago that, if passed, would legalize assisted suicide and decriminalize euthanasia, Member of Parliament Harold Albrecht has introduced a motion (M-388) that urges action against those who counsel or assist in suicides, specifically targeting those suicides that are promoted through the internet. This comes after a number of stories involving individuals who were encouraged over the internet to kill themselves. The motion reads “That, in the opinion of the House, for greater certainty, the government should take steps to ensure that counselling a person to commit suicide or aiding or abetting a person to commit suicide is an offence under section 241 of the Criminal Code, regardless of the means used to counsel or aid or abet including via telecommunications, the Internet or a computer system.”
Action Item: Send Mr. Albrecht a note of thanks for standing up against the promotion of suicide. Encourage your MP to support this motion and to vote against the private member’s bill that would legalize assisted suicide and decriminalize euthanasia. You can also email the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition [email protected] for a petition in support of this cause.