Thoughts and Ideas Is nothing sacred (if you don’t believe in God)? 26 Sep 2025 “Once you accept that people ought to have autonomy—once you accept that life is not sacred and something that can only be taken by God, a being I don’t believe…
In the News Canada’s New Government 6 May 2025 P.M. Mark Carney We've just had a federal election in Canada. The focus, quite rightly, was on urgent matters of sovereignty threats and trade war practices posed by our vast…
In the News Do they think disabled people forgot …?? 2 Apr 2025 In a formal and respectful process that took several years (2002-2006), disabled people around the world worked hard on a comprehensive document that would reflect their actual social conditions, expose…
In the News International Body rules against Track 2 Maid 28 Mar 2025 In a major review of Canada's compliance with its treaty obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Canada has been found wanting, and among…
Remembering Audrey King 25 Mar 2025 https://youtu.be/9VPegBzLjak?si=6Oxw8V6aXlQhTqFA Audrey Jolayne King, born February 15, 1943, died peacefully on March 16, 2025, at the age of 82. https://www.aftercare.org/obituaries/audrey-king-4/#!/Obituary Audrey was treasured by family (see the obituary above), but…
Thoughts and Ideas Still here 27 Feb 2025 Hello blog readers. Living With Dignity Investing in Life for PWD's This blog is still here. I am still here. The LWD website is still here. But LWD as a…
Disability arts and culture… “Life After” 15 Feb 202515 Feb 2025 Have you ever wondered "Whatever happened to X" -- someone who made big news but then faded from view and from public consciousness? Disabled film-maker, Reid Davenport, was reading a…
In the News They want to have a Conversation about Advance Directives … 6 Feb 20259 Feb 2025 Readers of this blog should be aware that the government is conducting a "conversation" -- not a consultation -- about advance directives for MAID. This exercise opened in mid-December 2024…
In the News Loneliness and MAiD: 2023 Statistics You Need to Know 20 Dec 2024 The 2023 MAiD numbers are out, just in time for Christmas, when people are distracted by shopping and partying and decorating, baking and otherwise "getting ready". Nobody wants to be…
In the News Families vs. MAID (Part 2) 2 Nov 2024 A new case has arisen (A.Y. vs. N.B.) and prompted me to tackle my promised Part 2. This new case too is about love -- about the desire of A.Y.…
In the News An Important event! 26 Sep 2024 I have been "away" from these pages for too long, but now I'm back. I'm back because there is really big news to share with you today. Four national disability…
In the News Family Members vs. MAiD 27 Mar 20241 Nov 2024 I'd like to write about love, actually. No, not the movie, although it is one of my Christmas favourites, eagerly anticipated every season. No, I've been thinking about love in…
Thoughts and Ideas An Appointment with Death 22 Feb 2024 "I lost two friends to MAiD last week. Granted both were terminally ill, but it still seemed shockingly fast to me that they died so quickly. My friend was in…
Thoughts and Ideas Brace Yourselves 7 Feb 2024 Hello readers. First let's start by thanking the government and the majority of its AMAD committee for actually listening to and learning from a host of witnesses who urged them to…
Thoughts and Ideas When is suicide considered “rational”? 14 Dec 2023 by Policy Options. Originally published on Policy Options by Mary Shariff and Derek RossDecember 6, 2023 It is currently a crime in Canada for a doctor to end the life of a…
Uncategorized 4th Glossy Nothing-to-see-here Don’t-worry-about-it Annual Report on Medical assistance in Dying 2022 8 Nov 2023 A few months late, the 4th Annual was released to little fanfare. Here are a few thoughts and observations about what you might have missed. We'll start with their Chart…
Uncategorized say no to MAiD(mdsuc) 23 Oct 202327 Jan 2024 In a recent Angus-Reid poll, only a minority of Canadians (about 28%) are in favour of expanding MAiD to people whose sole underlying condition is mental illness (MDSUC). A vast…
Uncategorized Grieving Matters 30 Sep 202330 Sep 2023 September 30, The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, was first observed as a federal holiday in 2021. Springing from Orange Shirt Day this is one day a year set…
Uncategorized +?+Thinking Positively++??+ 4 Aug 202330 Sep 2023 With the recent passage of the Canada Disability Benefit Act, are disabled folks in Canada are closer to the goals of "Disability Without Poverty"? Should this victory be celebrated? We…
Thoughts and Ideas LWD’s first birthday 21 May 202330 Sep 2023 One year ago, Living With Dignity Canada became a legal entity, launched this website, and published the first instalment of this blog. Happy Birthday to Us! An old family photo…
Uncategorized “My Body, My Choice”: Tricky territory 9 May 202323 Feb 2024 South of the border, half the population lost a constitutional right to privacy in health care when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, which has for over two decades…
In the News… Does Hate always look Hateful? 21 Apr 202330 Sep 2023 Does hate always look hateful? Or can hate adopt a kind face and the language of compassion? Or can it disguise itself as bureaucratic rectitude, fully versed in what the…
Thoughts and Ideas Ambivalence Saves Lives 14 Apr 202330 Sep 2023 Human beings are complex creatures, to say the least. Rarely can we point to a single source of happiness, distress, rage, fear, or sleeplessness. We have a lot on our…
In the News… About those Recommendations 23 Mar 202323 Feb 2024 Hello readers. Because I have not yet been able to bring myself to the task of explicating the AMAD Committee final report's 23 Recommendations, this week's blog post is the…
Thoughts and Ideas Gaslit! 6 Mar 202323 Feb 2024 What I intended to write about this week was the report. By that I mean the final report of the joint committee whose hearings were intended, at least in part,…
Uncategorized Thoughts on a Slippery Road 7 Feb 202330 Sep 2023 I recently dug up this old post from my travel blog, written in May, 2016 -- about a year after the Carter decision, before the Feds passed Bill C-14. Someone…
In the News One Action you can Take 21 Jan 202330 Sep 2023 Hello readers, and Happy New Year 2023! It seems that the issues raised by MAID have finally reached the mainstream media and for that we are grateful. CBC's Fifth Estate…
Uncategorized A Hopeful Sign 17 Dec 202230 Sep 2023 This week, Justice Minister Lametti announced that his party will apply for an extension on the deadline for inclusion of mental illness in the MAID regime. Let's just take a…
Uncategorized They’re Finished Listening … 2 Dec 202230 Sep 2023 The "Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying" wound up its "Statutory Review of the Provisions of the Criminal Code Relating to Medical Assistance in Dying and their Application"…
Uncategorized ACEs AND MAID 23 Nov 202230 Sep 2023 What are ACEs, you ask? I'm so glad you did. Keep reading! (There's a really helpful video coming up ...) Last time around, I wrote about the need for research…
Uncategorized Research! 12 Nov 202230 Sep 2023 I recently asked a disabled friend of mine, how can LWD actually help? What does your community need? Her answer was swift and sure: RESEARCH!! I must admit, I was…
Uncategorized We Raised our Voices. Will You? 2 Sep 202230 Sep 2023 LWD's submission presented online to the Special Joint Committee in late August is copied below. We are sharing it here with our readers in hopes that each of you will…
Uncategorized System Failures 21 Aug 202230 Sep 2023 The Third Annual Federal MAID report offers some statistics about last year's Track 1 deaths -- i.e. the "reasonably foreseeable natural deaths" [RFND's] for which MAID was originally legalized --…
Thoughts and Ideas Helen Long Says you don’t exist — But we see you! 27 Jul 202230 Sep 2023 Dying with Dignity CEO, Helen Long, recently published a long article in McLeans Magazine (May 31/22), detailing the results of DWD's most recent survey. On the basis of that survey,…
Uncategorized Canada’s NRA? 25 May 202215 Jun 2024 It was May 24, 2022 — one year ago, just after LWD was launched. I was watching an American news channel reporting on yet another "worst” school shooting, this time…
Thoughts and Ideas We’re Here! 23 May 20221 Oct 2023 "Somebody ought to START AN ORGANIZATION!" I moaned in a Facebook post on April 30th, after I read in the paper that yet another person with a disability had chosen…