I already boosted this, but I want to add more emphasis. I think every Canadian citizen of the Fediverse ought to sign this petition to get the Government of Canada off Xitter: https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5359
Could anyone who has any Canadian followers please boost or just re-post it yourself? This matters.
@timbray so yes, Twitter* is awful.
However, I'm much more interested in a more pressing matter, namely getting the government to recognize that MAiD, framed as it is as a cost-saving measure, is a fundamental breach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and must be ended. Would you happen to know of petitions I can point people to on that matter?
*In sharp contrast to my policy for actual human beings, I am fine with deadnaming awful companies.
Because I've seen a lot of people talk a lot of crap about MAiD that directly contradicts the law.
For example, I've seen people attack MAiD, because of reports that doctors have pressured people to use it, even though that very specifically against the law.
@csstrowbridge @timbray ah, yes, the famous law, which everyone obeys scrupulously and whose alleged spirit no one ever violates. See also: starlight tours.
Here's a few of the things I found over the course of slightly under ten seconds' worth of searches on the terms MAiD, eugenics, and Canada.
https://www.counterfire.org/article/austerity-eugenics-canadas-assisted-dying-programme/
https://eppc.org/publication/the-cautionary-tale-of-canadas-euthanasia-regime-an-interview-with-alexander-raikin/
https://theconversation.com/maid-and-marginalized-people-coroners-reports-shed-light-on-assisted-death-in-ontario-241661
I'm sure you can do at least as well if you're actually interested in what's going on rather than, you know, pretending everything's fine.
Out of a generosity I'm running short on, I will, for the moment, assume that you would oppose a eugenicist programme if you were convinced one was going on. That assumption is subject to revision, of course. The benefit of the doubt goes away as the doubt does.
Assisted dying may seem to be a humanitarian measure, but in the context of rampant austerity, evidence suggests it can have very disturbing consequences, argues John Clarke The Canadian government is delaying its plans to extend medical assistance in dying (Maid) to those who are ‘suffering solely from a mental illness’.
"ah, yes, the famous law, which everyone obeys scrupulously and whose alleged spirit no one ever violates."
Translation: "When people break the law, it's the law that's the problem and we should repeal it."
"Here's a few of the things I found..."
Did you read any of them? No. I don't think you did.
Let's look at them.
1.) Counterfire: 'There needs to be better safeguards.' - Agreed. 'Austerity is bad' - Agreed.
2.) EPPC: This is written by someone who think medically assisted suicide should be murder 100% of the time and I think this is for religious reasons. Not interested in their opinion.
3.) The Conservation: 'Hey, did you know poor people get sick more often than rich people?' They never showed sick poor people use MAiD more than sick rich people.
Another one to add to your list:
Canadian Journal of Disability Studies
Medical Assistance In Dying: Resistance in Canada
Vol. 13 No. 2 (2024) https://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/issue/view/47
Did you read these? And I don't mean the foreword, but the actual testimonials. Did you read those?
The very first one suggests things that are already part of MAiD. You can't go through MAiD unless you've been offered other help to relieve suffering.
'People shouldn't be allowed to make end of life decisions now, because these decisions might be based on ableist and ageist prejudices.'
That is not a compelling argument to end MAiD. That is certainly not an argument that MAiD is eugenics. That's a compelling argument on teaching people so they don't have these prejudices.
@csstrowbridge The journal issue is not arguing that MAiD should not exist at all. It is saying that the safeguards are insufficient and have been eroding rapidly. The solution goes far beyond further training for MAiD providers, as a number of the testimonials explain.
The forward does an excellent and thorough job of addressing how it could be improved and why it is a problem in the context of systemic ableism in medical environments and broader society.
@csstrowbridge e.g., from the forward (https://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/1105/1248):
When the law’s intended safeguards are easily circumvented, when ‘doctor shopping’ practices override the expertise of family physicians and others who know an applicant’s actual life circumstances over time, and when even the courts are helpless to intervene, Canada’s MAID regime has become what one journalist described as “an unholy mess.”
"When the law’s intended safeguards are easily circumvented..."
Citation needed.
Anyone can make claims. I want to see proof.
@csstrowbridge
Well, that particular sentence cited https://nationalpost.com/opinion/chris-selley-if-not-a-judge-then-who-can-find-proof-of-oversight-on-maid
But, the testimonies speak more broadly to the issues.
For example, Bill Adair's speaks to the problems with only requiring a 90-day wait period (his argument is well-supported by another book I'm reading right now: Suicidal: Why we kill ourselves, by Jesse Bering), and the lack of real choice for a person when they are offered MAiD. (Jonas-Sébastien Beaudry's and Ramona Coelho's testimonies are similar.)
@csstrowbridge Michael Bach speaks about the role that stigma may play in the case of advance requests.
Neil Belanger speaks about the challenge of accessing appropriate healthcare for Indigenous people suffering from mental health challenges versus the relative ease of accessing MAiD.
@csstrowbridge
Christine and Alucia Duncann speak about their mother's request for MAiD that was granted:
"On October 14, 2021, she asked her GP to assess her for MAiD but he refused as he did not feel she had followed his medical recommendations and he did not believe she was on a trajectory for death.
After his refusal, she was assessed for MAiD by Dr. Grace Park and 2 days later by Sean Young, a nurse practitioner, who approved her to die 48 hours later after meeting her only once."
"Neil Belanger speaks about the challenge of accessing appropriate healthcare for Indigenous people suffering from mental health challenges..."
And this predates MAiD.
"...versus the relative ease of accessing MAiD."
You can't use MAiD without getting mental health counselling.
Again, all of this shows we need to enforce MAiD safeguards, not get rid of it.
@csstrowbridge
From CAMH:
Will there be additional safeguards when MAiD for mental illness becomes legal?
Right now, there are additional safeguards for MAiD requests where a person’s death is not reasonably foreseeable (they are not close to the end of life). It is expected that these safeguards will apply to MAiD requests where mental illness is the only medical condition, but it is not known at this time if there will be more safeguards when MAiD for mental illness becomes legal.
...
@csstrowbridge
...
Currently, the following safeguards exist for people with physical conditions whose death is not expected soon:
At least 90 days must pass between the day the MAiD eligibility assessment begins and the day the person receives MAiD.
Two health care practitioners, independent of one another, must conduct assessments and confirm that the person is eligible for MAiD. One of those assessors must be a specialist in the condition that is causing the person unbearable suffering.
From https://www.camh.ca/en/camh-news-and-stories/maid-and-mental-illness-faqs
Note that you absolutely CAN get MAiD without mental health counselling. You just need to be informed that counselling is an option.
"Well, that particular sentence cited National Post..."
THE NATIONAL POST!!!
Well then, all of my doubts are gone.
"Christine and Alucia Duncann speak about their mother..."
This is an actual case, not speculation. This is what you need to make your case.
... And in this case, the mother wanted to use MAiD. She wasn't pressured into it. So what's the problem? YOU don't think she should have used it? Okay. So?
@csstrowbridge @StephBoragina I do not answer hostile questions from people arguing in bad faith, least of all those who demand that people vote for a genocide, as you have done.
Scratch a liberal, and a fascist bleeds.
@[email protected] @StephBoragina
Translation: "No, I did not read them."
Attached: 1 video I’m a Scottish independent DIY musician on tour in Canada. 🏴🇨🇦 Can you help me get the word out about my shows? I’m trying my hardest sell as many of them out as possible. It’s hard right now. If you like Scottish folk music, or know friends who might like my music. Please SHARE!
@grumpydad if only, then I wouldn't have to choose between Canadian and Dutch citizenship
I signed it… let’s go Canada, decentralized comms, let’s get ‘er done.
@timbray I found a list of over 1000 Canadian government social media accounts. I guess each department is responsible for managing these, but there must be some overall coordination and reporting requirements for those agencies.
Not sure about the best way to guide them to migrate to the fediverse, but of course their responsibility is to reach as many citizens as they can.
What would be the next steps beyond a petition?
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