Amidst the darkening clouds around Canada’s laws against assisted suicide, there is an ever-increasing ray of light. The need for an effective palliative care strategy is being understood, and acted upon, by Canada’s federal government. Most recently, Canada’s Minister of Health Rona Ambrose publicly called for a national palliative care strategy. You can watch a short video interview with her here. This comes after almost complete MP support for MP Charlie Angus’s motion, calling for the same thing. 

Please take a moment to use our new EasyMail 3.0 technology to send a letter to your MP, calling on them to promote palliative care rather than assisted suicide and also asking him or her to do what they can to uphold the law against assisted suicide in the face of many challenges. The letter will be copied to Ms. Ambrose, to indicate our support for her comments. [Click here to send your letter]

The value of human life is being challenged from all sides. First, we have the Supreme Court case which will decide if our laws are constitutional. Then there is the Quebec government, which blazed its own trail and legalized euthanasia even though it is supposed to be a federal matter. Then there is MP Stephen Fletcher’s bills in Parliament, which seek to legalize assisted suicide. Loudest of all is the CBC, Globe and Mail, and others in the mainstream media which have become activists for death. 

We have opportunities to respond to each of these challenges. For example, ARPA Canada is intervening in the Supreme Court case. But we can’t just be reactive. An aging and secular society will increasingly struggle with dying. Palliative care is one means to proactive respond – with care instead of killing.

Please send your letter today and then encourage your friends to do the same. [Click here to send your letter]. You can find other EasyMail letters on this topic at easy.arpacanada.ca.