Bill C-227: Palliative Care Strategy Tag

24 Oct 2017 Palliative care strategy bill continues through the Senate

MP Marilyn Gladu ARPA Canada Grassroots Manager, Colin Postma The Senate has started Committee hearings on Bill C-277. That's a private members bill from Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu which calls for the establishment of a national palliative care strategy in Canada. Gladu kicked off the Committee hearing last week by talking about several components of the bill, including the notion that there is a need for better training in palliative care across the country. She says there are only about 20 palliative care specialists in Canada today, and with an aging population, the...

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21 Feb 2017 Bigotry in the Senate?

Senator Marilou McPhedran Senator Don Plett Senate Speaker George Furey There was an emotional debate in the Senate last week about language and choice of words. On the feature this week, we present an edited version of that debate, which started when Manitoba Senator Don Plett rose on a point of order. ---- Senator Plett: Yesterday in this chamber, a senator in her maiden speech, her first speech in the Senate, accused me of bigotry… To attribute such a serious charge as bigotry to the phrase "these people" is preposterous, and I will read what I...

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26 Oct 2016 Palliative Care: A more dignified option

Support C-277 Last year the Supreme Court of Canada overturned hundreds of years of legal, medical, and moral precedent, when it struck down the Criminal Code prohibitions on assisted suicide in the Carter case.  The Supreme Court gave Parliament the task of creating a system in which some people may kill others in some circumstances. On June 17, Bill C-14 became law after bouncing back and forth between the Senate and House of Commons. This law formally legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. While the law was being crafted, we were able to engage with this policy debate in a huge way. With your help and by God’s grace, our message resulted in some positive changes to the law and helped mitigate the evil that was being endorsed by many Canadians.
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31 May 2016 Palliative Care Bill C-277 Announced

Marilyn Gladu, MP for Sarnia-Lambton spoke on May 31, 2016 at a press conference for her private member’s bill, Marilyn Gladu Bill C-277, “an act providing for the development of a framework on palliative care in Canada.” This timely bill comes in response to the lack of palliative care available in Canada and the lack of any palliative care provisions in government’s C-14 euthanasia legislation which is moving quickly through Parliament. This Private Member’s bill emphasizes the Liberal government's commitment to the “importance of extending access to palliative care to all Canadians in the context of physician-assisted death.” With that in mind, Bill C-277, instructs the ministry of health to work with palliative care professionals and provincial leaders in health to apply national palliative care standards. At the press conference Miss Gladu emphasized how there are only 200 hospices across Canada. Such a low number signifies the need for universal palliative care options. The framework provided in this bill would provide a definition for palliative care, identify the training needed for palliative care professionals, ensure consistent access to palliative care in Canada and consider amending the Canada Health Act to include palliative care as a guaranteed healthcare option. Additionally, the act would outline periodical report releases from the Minister of Health, highlighting any concerns or recommendations for the framework of palliative care. These several initiatives are very similar to ARPA’s emphasis on the need of providing palliative care as a third option for those who are suffering from irremediable terminal illnesses.
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