‘When people are loved and cherished and given a sense of divine purpose, their desire to live awakens,’ counsellor says
OTTAWA (CCN)
Dozens of people who showed up for an Ontario government consultation on euthanasia and assisted suicide were dismayed by the format and lack of options for those opposed.
Instead of a usual consultation involving various individuals and groups making presentations before a government appointed panel, participants entered a hotel room where seating was arranged in circles accommodating about 20 people each.
“This set up is rather disconcerting,” said Campaign Life Coalition Ottawa lobbyist Johanne Brownrigg, who was among 150 people who packed the room at the Sheraton Ottawa. “I don’t understand the point of having a round table where people will be addressing each other when it’s in fact a policy that is being handed down by the government and we should be addressing the government.”
“This is not what I was expecting,” said Evangelical Fellowship of Canada policy analyst Julia Beazley, who said she expected to hear from members of the advisory group who had made recommendations on how to respond to the Supreme Court of Canada’s (SCC) Carter decision. “It looks more like we’re going to be talking amongst ourselves.”
The format of the evening was designed by Ipsos Research in conjunction with the Ontario government’s Ministry of Health and Longterm Care and the office of the Attorney General. On each seat was a remote voting device similar to a TV remote control for voting on survey questions that facilitators projected on a screen in between periods of discussion.
After a brief explanation of the SCC’s Carter decision, which struck down portions of the Criminal Code against assisted suicide, facilitators asked for a vote on how likely people in the room were to avail themselves of a “physician assisted death” if it is legal.
The vote breakdown was as follows: 53 were very likely; 17 somewhat likely; 7 were somewhat unlikely; 56 were very unlikely and 4 answered “not sure.”
Several participants objected to the absence of a category to vote “not at all” on the question. Action Life executive director Louise Harbour told the gathering the questions seemed “skewed to attain” a certain result.
An Ipsos representative then told all those who wanted a “not at all category” to refrain from voting and their answers would be noted. They also assured participants the voting was not mean as a survey and that facilitators in each group would be taking notes on points raised in the group discussion.
One Ipsos worker told CCN this problem had also been raised in the first consultation in Sudbury, Ontario on Jan. 6.
A question on who should administer the drugs for a doctor-assisted death had the following results: the patient 6; the physician 5; both 61; neither 12; not sure 2. Those who would answer “no one at all” were advised not to vote. An estimated 74 did not vote.
A palliative care doctor told her group she would leave medicine rather than be forced to kill her patients; a man insisted it was his right to die when and how he chose and those who oppose euthanasia should not interfere with his right. Rita Hughes, a Christian counsellor, told of how at age thirteen she spent a year in hospital, completely blind, unable to walk and had wished to die. She insisted doctors make mistakes and her prognosis was one of them.
Another woman told of how she prayed her 13-year old son would die since he suffered so severely from bone cancer that she could not touch him, except for his head and his fingers. He had wanted to die. “[Consent] shouldn’t be based on age,” she said.
Seventy-one people voted to say doctor assisted deaths should be allowed to take place in homes, hospitals, long term care facilities and hospices, i.e. “all of the above.”
At the end of the evening, the vote on the first question was repeated. This time 56 were in the “very likely camp,” a gain of three votes and 13 in the “somewhat unlikely,” a drop of four. Twenty were in the “very unlikely” category, a drop of 36; and 5 answering “not sure.” An Ipsos representative said 150 were in the room, meaning 56 did not vote at all, signaling “not at all.”
Hughes of the House of Hope and Healing said she counsels people who have attempted suicide, who have experienced sexual abuse and other traumas.
“When people are loved and cherished and given a sense of divine purpose, their desire to live awakens,” she said. Hughes said she found the consultation “absolutely horrible” and “very discouraging.” She also found it difficult to register for the event, as she was told it was full. She came anyway and was able to find a seat.
