Ont. minister urges talk about assisted dying
TORONTO — It’s time for Canadians and their leaders to talk about the taboo of assisted suicide as part of endof-life care, Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews said Wednesday.
But in the end, it’s up to the federal government to decide whether it should be legal, she said.
“I think it’s about the community having the conversation, I think it’s about people having the conversation,” Matthews said.
A prominent doctor’s impassioned, videotaped appeal to legalize assisted suicide just a few days before his death has reopened the emotionally charged debate.
Dr. Donald Low, who shepherded Toronto through the 2003 SARS crisis, asked that Canada allow people to die with dignity, eight days before he died from a brain tumour last week at age 68.
Low put a human face on the controversial subject, Matthews said.
“Donald Low’s video was very powerful and many people have personally experienced it,” she said.
“There are strong opinions on this. I think it’s a conversation we need to have.”
Matthews said she’d be surprised if the topic doesn’t come up when provincial, federal and territorial health ministers meet in Toronto on Sept. 27.
But she wouldn’t divulge her own view about assisted suicide.
“Of course, I have strong personal opinions. I think everybody does,” she said. “But I’m not speaking as a person, I’m speaking as health minister for Ontario.”
Right now, her priority is improving end-of-life care in Ontario, including palliative care to hospices, she added.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Canada, and the federal government has repeatedly said it has no plans to change those laws.
In the video, Low said he is not in pain but his vision, hearing and strength are waning and he worried what would happen before the end.