Despite the fact that the election discourse is gravitating mostly around the economy here in Ontario, with the PCs and Liberals trading blows on who can manage money in better ways in the province, we, the foot soldiers and liberal campaigners need to remind our leaders about other important issues currently debated by Canadians.
One such issue is legalizing assisted suicide. An issue that some would say is on the fringe of what Canadians think is important in their lives, but also an issue that is held close to the heart by many of the liberal faithful.
Fortunately, the Farewell Foundation for the Right to die headed by a Mr. Russel Ogden, a man that has seen his share of assisted suicides, is taking the case of legalizing the whole matter all the way to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Mr. Ogden and his organization will be challenging the constitutionality of the criminal code of Canada, which makes helping someone to commit suicide an offence punishable with up to 14 years of imprisonment.
This entire challenge, and resurgence to the mainstream of the debate on assisted suicide in Canada, began a couple of months ago when the Farewell Foundation applied for a license as a non-profit organization in B.C.
Of course, the B.C. Registrar of Companies refused to grant the foundation a license on grounds that their operating purposes were illegal. In the aftermath of the refusal, Mr. Ogden’s organization filed a civil suit against Canada’s Attorney General challenging the constitutionality of the law against assisted suicide.
The case of the Farewell Foundation should have by now attracted the attention of liberal leader Bob Rae, at the federal level, and Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty.
In my opinion, these two men have nothing to lose, with Rae holding the liberal fort as leader only temporarily, and McGuinty facing ever diminishing chances of re-election.
Both men thus need to boldly declare their solidarity, as true Grits, with Canadians wishing to end their lives. If their stay at the helm of liberalism in Canada is only for a short while, then they should leave politics with a bang.
Finally, on the question of the legitimacy of assisted suicide I have only one thing to say, which I think both conservatives and liberals would agree with: And that is that the government has no obligation nor does it have any moral right over the beginning or end of an individual’s life. It cannot license or ban birth, and nor can it license or ban death. Thus in the case of assisted suicide, the choice should be left to the individual.
For a man or woman to choose his or her end is the ultimate freedom which must not be revoked, curtailed or banned.
