Friend’s dying wish
Friends of Cape Breton man stage information session on medically assisted death
In the days leading up to his medically assisted death in January, Weldon Bona remarked that dying shouldn’t be so difficult.
Now, the people who were closest to him are trying to make it a little easier.
“One of the things that Weldon really wanted to do — and I think that became apparent with one of the hiccups that he had in the process — one of his wishes was that he help anybody coming behind him so that they don’t have to go through as difficult a process as he did,” said Jennifer Currie, a longtime friend of Bona’s who helped stage an information session Thursday night to help other people who want to end their lives on their own terms navigate Nova Scotia’s medical assistance in dying program.
Although Bona was approved under the program, the 62-yearold visual artist, who was suffering from lung cancer, still faced many difficulties.
“We get the tourists, they come in and hopefully they do their shopping, but we want local Cape Breton people to enjoy the shops we have down there, from ice cream to food to novelties and of course handcrafted items.”
The shops will be expected to be open on cruise days when the season begins Tuesday and will begin their regular hours July 1, Carrigan said. The regular hours on non-ship days will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday to Thursday. Friday and Saturday hours will vary due to weddings and other special events taking place at the pavilion, with select stores open, Carrigan said.