TORONTO, September 26, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ontario Liberal Health Minister Deb Matthews said that after she watched the posthumously released video by Dr. Donald Low in which he called for the availability of doctor-assisted death in Canada, she came to believe that it's time to reopen the debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide.
But the federal justice minister says no way.
“I think it's a conversation we need to have,” Matthews told the media. “Donald Low's video was very powerful, and many people have personally experienced it.”
However, Federal Justice Minister Peter MacKay said that although “there's no denying” that “it is a very emotional, very personal subject,” he stated that the federal government will not reopen debate on euthanasia and assisted suicide.
“We have no desire to reintroduce legislation that would open this issue up,” Justice Minister MacKay said.
“It is a very slippery slope when one starts to contemplate the various scenarios and the range of circumstances in which people can find themselves,” MacKay said.
“We're into the area of moral questions,” he added. “I simply do not believe it is in our best interest to open up the debate or to bring forward legislation that would change the current laws that are meant to protect people from abuse.”
According to a CTV report Ontario's Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne backed up her health minister, saying there will be a national debate about legalizing assisted suicide, whether the federal government wants one or not.
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Despite Wynne's assertion, just last month Canada's Health Minister, Hon. Rona Ambrose, told the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) that the federal government will not change its position against euthanasia and assisted suicide.
“Parliament voted in 2010 to not change its position on this issue. At this time, we don’t have any intention of changing our position,” Ambrose told the CMA at it its annual meeting in August.
“This is an issue that is very emotional for a lot of people — not just regular Canadians, but also physicians. All of us think about the issue because we have elderly grandparents and elderly parents, and it’s on the minds of many because Quebec has introduced their legislation,” she added.
Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition commented on the video showing Dr. Low wondering why it is not possible to have euthanasia in Canada if it is so easily available in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland, where euthanasia or assisted suicide are legal.
“Maybe Dr. Low should have considered that legalizing euthanasia has consequences,” Schadenberg said.
In the commentary Schadenberg went on to describe numerous cases of abuse of assisted suicide in those countries and provided evidence that euthanasia has grown out-of-control.