Pro-lifers win a victory for freedom at Delta Hospice

If you’ve been following the story of the Delta Hospice Society, you will remember the fiasco that took place at last year’s AGM when the society saw a surge in attendees, from 33 people in 2018 to 198 in October 2019.

The meeting was littered with scandal from beginning to end, and Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) was the battle at hand.

Formerly considered murder, MAID was decriminalized under Prime Minister Trudeau in June 2016. The effects on the ground pour into our streets and homes. At Delta Hospice, pro-life workers were terminated and fired under the old board of directors in an environment where it became unsafe to be a conscientious objector.

At October’s AGM, the issue was all about MAID, and a scandalous agenda rigged the events of the evening.

The election went awry, a pro-MAID director, Chris Pettypiece, refused to step down after overstaying his eight-year maximum term on the board. The society’s lawyer, Christine Elliot, attempted to sneak a new set of bylaws into the society without the membership clearly understanding what they were voting on.

If you were pro-MAID, these mishaps worked in your favour. However the election failed and a new AGM date was set for Nov. 28, 2019.

A race for memberships began. The society at this point had roughly 400 members. Membership surged again due to the MAID agenda and a desire from the public to vote.

By Oct. 31, the board cut off memberships, which had reached over 600. It was believed among pro-lifers that the board knew too many pro-life people were registering since pro-lifers had access to the churches. Memberships were cut off even though the board itself had gone to the Dying with Dignity group in Vancouver to recruit members. Alex Muir of Dying with Dignity in Vancouver was himself present at the Nov. 28 meeting, even speaking in place of one of the board members to lend support for the MAID position during the election of candidates.

Prior to the Nov. 28 AGM, the old board determined it was crucial to force MAID into hospice, effective immediately, even though it was against the constitution of the hospice and even though it knew the majority of the membership did not support it.

Nonetheless, the board voted for it in early November. When it didn’t pass, a heated debate broke out, concluding with three resignations from board members who voted against MAID.

A week or so later, with the opposing members resigned, the board seized its opportunity to force MAID into hospice. One week before the second AGM, it voted again to put MAID into place immediately.

This time it was successful. Angelina Ireland was the only board member who voted against MAID.

However, Chris Pettypiece was sitting on the board illegally at this time, which meant that when it tried to pass MAID, it hadn’t legally met quorum. As a result the motion failed, even though the board started enacting MAID with the Fraser Health Authority.

Those actions have since been the catalyst for a myriad of problems the hospice currently faces with MAID and Fraser Health, which has since gained momentum in attempting to dictate that MAID be provided.

Finally, the Nov. 28 AGM arrived. If the first AGM wasn’t bad enough, the second was worse. The board knew the majority of the membership was pro-life and suppressed the voices of members without conscience. Members were not given the opportunity to speak to the agenda, properly pass minutes, make motions, second them, have discussion, and take matters to a vote.

The voice of the membership was suppressed from beginning to end. It was far from the democratic proceedings that we as Canadians have come to respect and defend. It was like a meeting run by a fascist, totalitarian regime.

In the middle of it, the chair permitted several nurses from the hospice to get up and publicly trash the previous executive director in front of the 280 people present. It was a classless trick by the board, perhaps done in hopes it would lead the crowd to vote for those who had just supported MAID.

Instead, boos rang out from the crowd, not only for the way pro-life members’ voices were silenced, but for the public trashing of someone who built the hospice into a state-of-the-art facility over 25 years. Delta Hospice is the leading hospice in the province because of her.

The trick backfired on the board. When it came time for the election, each of the incumbent board members up for re-election was ousted and five new members were voted in.

This vote was significant on many levels. It was a vote for life, a vote for decency, and a vote for freedom and democracy!

The balance of power was dynamically changed, with a pro-life board now firmly in place.

By Nov. 30, Angelina Ireland had been named president of the new board, the MAID decision was reversed effective immediately, and by Monday one person’s life was saved, praise be to God who does marvelous things!

Rev. Danielle Martell is priest in charge at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church in Tsawwassen and was recently appointed to the board of the Delta Hospice Society.

Originally published in Light Magazine. Reprinted with permission.