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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-03-14, Page 31-q Jaa L iAll my life, I've never understood disabled people. All I could see was their disability. Then last week I met Cindy. The Ontario March of Dimes 'sponsored her in a special program to come and talk at our school. I saw that Cindy is really independent and active in our community. Thanks to the Ontario March of Dimes, electronic aids, like the TOSC unit, make it , possible for Cindy to live on.her own. The organization is there to help disabled adults. But you know, I think it really helps all of us!" Please give generously to the Ontario March of Dimes Ability Fund. • 3 Pot of O ABILITY FUND ' n We Can't Help Without Your Help. It's a reassur}ug process when a democracy reasserts itself, and itt is for that rea- son I welcome the outpour- ing of public grievances about the methods and atti- tudes of Revenue Canada. It is reassuring to know that the opposition party does have power, that despite the government's attempts to stonewall, the truth about Revenue Canada is coming out and will continue to come. out. The only unfortunate thing about this is that the wrong man is being strung up. Pierre Bussieres, it is true, is the Revenue Minister. He is responsible for the Revenue Department in the same way that a captain with a shiftless crew is re- sponsible for his ship.. In the hallowed halls of parliament, Mr. Bussieres carries the can, despite the fact that some elements of Revenue Canada turned sav- age years before he got the job. It has long been treated as a junior portfolio, and that's part of the problem. There have been 12 Revenue Ministers in the last 15 years. That means the average term has been little more than a year for those in charge of one of the most dif- Dialogue on Law Reform Report 20 --Euthanasia,,Aiding Suicideiind_CessatiOfl of 'Treatment Senator J. P. Guay, T Abbot, Walter Baker, and and sensitive depart- ments of the government. A year isn't long enough to learn how to fill out a tax form, let alone become familiar with the way the de- partment works at the grass- roots. And the grassroots, by and large, is where the problem lies. Unless I miss. the signifi- cance of everything that has gushed into the public do- main over the past few weeks, the major problem is bloody-minded regional en- forcers who have taken the view that broad questions off policy are Ottawa's, but that attitude, style, method and tone 'of voice are theirs alone. I received a document the other day from a tax lawyer who has long made a study of the department and its methods. He says that for many years Revenue Cana- da rated the work of its as- sessors by giving theta an hourly success rate based on the amount of collections and the time spent on taxpayer's files. From there, he says, it was only a hop, skip and a jump to the quota system which came into effect three or four years ago. Under the quota system, individual as- sessors were given. annual collection targets, and their success or failure in meeting the collection targets was used to rate them for promo- tion. It isn't just Mr.' Bussieres who failed to come to grips. with what was going bn. Jean. Cretien served a term . as minister. So did Jean Pierre Cote, Herb Gray, Robert Stanbury; Ron Basford, Bud Cullen, Monique Begin, Senator J. P. Guay, Tony Baker, ' by Edward K. Keysertingk l� l f#w:Rt fvb'rrnt mttY3`ssibp ' of Canada's Report 20, entitled ".Euthanasia, Aiding Suicide and Cessation of Treatment" was tabled recently in Parliament by the Honourable Mark MacGuigan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. The recommendations in the Report deal with urgent life and death decisions faced more and more frequently by patients, families, health care profession- als and courts. It was formulated largely in the light of reactions to the Com- mission'' 1982 Working Paper No. 28 of the same title. Those comments, many in the form of substantial and impressive written briefs, came from medical, hos- pital, nursing and legal associa- tions, dying with dignity groups, as well as individual physicians, ethicists, theologians, lawyers, nurses, hospital administrators and members of the public. The large majority of comments received ' from these various. sources were in substantial sup- port of the analyses grid pro- posals of the Commission's earlier Working Paper. But- a number of criticisms and suggestions for further revision were made as well, and those the Commission agreed with have been' incorpui- rated into this Report. concern; for the quality of life. Highlights and Examples I. 'Euthanasia The Commission recom- mends that even if a patient 2. requests to he killed, such an act should not he legalized or decriminalized. It should - continue to he treated as_ culpahle homicide. - As for the mercy aspect, the Commission ,recommends • that the merciful motive involved in euthanasia also should not lead to a change in the present law. Eutha- nasia should not he made a separate offence, nor should formal provision he made for reduced sentences for those • convicted. By the term "euthanasia", the Commission means the act of ending the life of a person, for compassionate motives, when that person is already terminally ill or the suffering of that person has become • unbearable. Euthanasia involves causing death, not simply allowing a disease to take its toll when further -medical treatment would only prolong dying. - To legalize or decrimina- lize euthanasia would, in the view' of theCommission ommission and • the large majority of those consulted, seriously threaten the fundamental and tradi- tional stance of our society and law in favour of pro- tecting and preserving life. While persons who arc ter- minally ill or in great suffer- ing merit our full concern and compassion, there are mer- ciful alternatives to killing them which are both legally acceptable and medically feasible. especially that of providing intensive pallia - In the light of comments re- ceived and its own further re= flection, the Commission -remains convinced that there is an urgent need and widespread desire for . • the legal clarification of both - the rights of the patient and the duties and liabilities of health care professionals in the three areas addressed. This is essen- tially what the Commission has attempted to do, at least as re- gards the Criminal Code,. in the 'present Report. in some respects that goal was achieved by re- affirming the traditional bias of criminal law in the direction of preserving and protecting life. In other respects the goal was met • by clarifying and evolving that criminal law stance to more adequately respond to new med- ical challenges and techniques, new sensitivity to patients' rights (particularly that of patient auton- 1+ tive care. - The Commission notes in its Report that any appar�•nt harshness involved in treat- ing euthanasia as culpahle homicide is offset by, the existing internal regulating mechanisms of our legal sys- tem. The accused may he allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge;'jtries weigh - all the circumstances in reaching verdicts; there. re- mains the discretion of the authorities not to prosecute in truly exceptional cases. Aiding Suicide • The recommendation' is that aiding suicide should not he decriminalized, and that section 224 of the Criminal Code should he retained in. its present form. That section now makes it a criminal of • - fence to counsel or• aid sui- cide'. � The maiW'reason for recom- mending, the retention of this offence is that not every case of aiding suicide is necessarily for altruistic motives, and • what is in reality homicide of a• terminally ill patient could too readily he disguised • as aiding suicide. In its earlier Working Paper, the Commission recom- mended thaLa. subsection he added to section 224 to 'the effect that no one should . he prosecuted for an offence • under that section without the personal written autho- rization of the Attorney - General. 1 -lover the vast majority of...commentators disagreed with it, many because they felt it might introduce a political tone to decisions to prosecute or not. On further' reflection, the Commission also decided that that condition might encourage significant dif- ferences in how .this law is enforced in various. parts of Canada, thus promoting the perception that life does not have the same value every- where. The Commission also con- cludes that since this offence is hardly ever prosecuted, requiring an additional pro- cedu,re would amount to its de facto abolition. 3. Cessation of Treatment - A first proposal under this heading is that competent and fully informed patients should always have the right to refuse any treatment or have it diseontinue"ciltciud- ing life support tre4 hien[, The enforced starting or continuation of treatment against the patient's wishes constitutes an assault. - The provision or cessation 'of medical treatment poten- tially falls within a number of complex provisions of the Criminal Code, including assault, homicide, failure to use reasonable knowledge, skill and care (especially sections 45, 197, 198 and 199). One of these sections (section 199) could be inter- preted by some to mean that a physician who has started treatment may not stop it if there is a risk to'the•patient's- life. What then,of life -supporting treatment which has hecome• therapeutically useless, i.e. simply prolonging the dying process, - must it always he continued -'because to stop it would lead to the patient dying? While it is doubtful that present Code sections read together preclude such a cessation, there is never- theless a degree of ambiguity and uncertainty. Therefore the Commission made the proposal above and those Which follow. A second proposal is that whether a patient is com- petent or incompetent (for instance, newborn, senile or comatose), a physician should not he required to begin or continue treatment which is or has hecome therapeuti- cally useless and not in the the best interests of "that. person. Therapeutically useful treat- ment is any treatment given with the aim of curing or improving that person's condition. If a patient expressly requests therapeutically useless treat- ment, a physician who does not provide it would not normally he criminally liable for not providing it. On the other hand, the addi- 'tional "best interests" cri- terion could. require a phy- sician to continue providing 14, d, ' trota 11]I .r OnFr euthanasia, aiding suicide and cessation of treatment 20 Canada i Law Reform Commission Commission de reforme du droll of Canada. du Canada To obtain a free copy of this Report, entitled Euthanasia, Aiding Suicide and Cessation of Treatment, write to the Law Reform Commission of Canada, 130 Albert St., .7th Floor, Ottawa, Canada K1A OL6. This Report is bilingual. treatment which has become therapeutically useless (such as life-support) for some other purpose than curing or alleviating the medical condition. An example would he a patient who wishes' more time in order to see a relative for the, last time, or to prepare a will. These could constitute "best inter- ests". - A .third recommendation concerns the administration of palliative care. No Cri- mina! Code section should prevent a physician from undertaking or oblige him to cease palliative care (that is, care intended to eliminate or relieve suffering) even if that care is likely to shorten a patient's, life -expectancy. If the dosage is appropriate for the patient's pain and - suffering, and if the intent is not to cause death but to relieve suffering, then that secondary effect of hasten- ing death should not incur any criminal liability. - On the contrary, when thera- peutic treatment is no longer useful, then the duty of a physician is to try to relieve pan and suffering. Not only is that not criminal,,but very laudable. Canada Crossroads—March 14, 1984—Page 7 GLOBAL FAMILY NEWS William Romkey. Phe William Romkey. The late Mr.' Baker, who was the ::i['ninister.,r,esponsible: t dur ing' the Clark government, only had six months, it's true. But I'm almost certain* had no idea what was going on either or we'd have heard about it at the time. So, it is not just the Liberals and it's not just the unfortunate Mr. Bussieres. What's happened in Revenue Canada could happen almost everywhere When no one is really in charge. Filling a void in Mali (NC) — To help an entire Third World community to become self-reliant may seem an impossible task. However, Foster Parents Plan's child sponsorship program is doing just that in 21 countries. Over 55,000 Canadians each pay $23 a month to sponsor a Foster Child. PLAN has. found that the most effective and lasting aid is provided when we help entire communities, rather than give -handouts to individuals. PLAN's program in Mali is relatively new. Joy Greenidge, PLAN's Direc- tor in Mali describes the program's operation. "Of the money contrib- uted by the Foster Parent, one part is made available to the village each year so that villagers can decide to- gether on a project that will be of direct benefit to all. The money„ also supplies such things as medicines and equipment to dispen- saries, books and supplies to schools. In addition, we have a special service fund that is available when a family is having special problems. We have bought clothing for some needy persons, and given grain to one fam- ily whose case is recognized as extreme by the village. The government is very cautious about giving indi- vidual aid because here in West Africa, small commu- nities still take care oftheir own poor. Itis not shameful to accept charity in a Mos- lem culture. However, the government cannot afford to assume these functions, and also wants to be careful not to intervene unneces- sarily. Therefore, we at PLAN onlyjntervene when requested to do so by thevil- lage council. Among the problems PLAN faces. in Mali: the one village well dries up in March, and all the women have to walk four kilome- ters to get water with which In Mali, and 20 other Third World Countries PLAN does what no one else is doing. to cook; an epidemic of mea- sles can kill the children under 15 in a village whose children have never been. vaccinated; most school masters have no reference books; children lack text- books; villages lack school buildings and basic medi- cines. PLAN is building- wells as fast as we can. We are also furnishing plows -and donkey carts to villages to haul wood, harvest millet or take sick children to the dispensary in an emer- gency. Seeds and fertilizer are being supplied to villages that had no harvest last year (because of lack of rain) and vegetable seeds free of charge to any family who wishes to have a garden. Textbooks and sup- plies are being distributed to schools by PLAN also. In all cases, PLAN is fil- ling a void that had not been met by anyone else." Won't you help us in our work? Just think how much less than $1 a day can do for a Third World child. For information on how you can help, please write Foster Parents Plan at Box 900, Depart- ment PS, Station Q, Tor- onto, Ontario M4T 2P1 KEEP REAR WINDOW LEDGE CLEAR Ever put anything on the rear window' ledge of your car when you're- driving? Well, don't do it, warns the Industrial Accident .Preven- tion Association. Check_to be sure you don't keep objects on the rear window ledge, it could obstruct your view, and if you have to stop sud- denly, ,the object could hit the heads of the passengers. TO CLINCH NAILS PROPER , $ENDTHE NAtL TO A 514ALL0v4 ARC milt PLIERS� OR MAMMEICLAWS. PR WE 1HE.401NT two, WOOD ACROSS GR4t14, MAt(tMG I'f MORE DiF1r1CUL1 TO PULL our rms fALso RvotDS POTENTIAL INJURIESIO PEOpLE OR DAMAGE TO PROPER -TY FROM sNAGGIt4G ONTwE POINTS rJOT NIDDEtJ r B 1 RROPER Chlt4 C.1-4ItsG. 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