UPDATE: Thank you for supporting our citizen network as the Quebec Association for the Right to Die with Dignity / Association québécoise pour le droit de mourir dans la dignité (AQDMD) now has charitable status. The Canada Revenue Agency has denied us Charitable status.
Reminder of our 2021 statement in which we denounced this ongoing injustice. .
January… 2023! It’s already been two years since we launched a formal fundraising campaign. Thanks to our presence in the news and on social media, as well our advertising campaign and newsletters, you know that we’ve been busy.
To mark the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Act respecting end-of-life care in Quebec, which gave the green light to euthanasia under the name of medical aid in dying, we have focused our efforts on developing a major campaign on Aid in living.
As the result of many months of work, our ad campaign was launched last May and has enabled us to reach hundreds of thousands of Quebecers. They received an unexpected message: Yes, it is possible to lovingly and respectfully encourage a loved one not to choose medical aid in dying.
Our radio ad was broadcast in French and English on all the Cogeco and Rythme FM networks, Radio VM and CJAD. Our ad campaign is still available on the aidinliving.org website, and opens the way for anyone who wants to find out more about the issues in question.
The campaign received significant media coverage and culminated with the publication of three articles in La Presse: a text by Patrick Lagacé (a well-known columnist in Quebec) denouncing our campaign by presenting us falsely as a religious group, without identifying us, a response signed by our coordinator Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre; and then a second column by Mr Lagacé that will remain engraved in our memory.
This attempt to discredit LWD’s civic commitment (by exposing the personal beliefs of the LWD board members) instead succeeded in giving our network considerable visibility while encouraging our allies to remind us of their support.
As you can see from this photo taken at our Board meeting on May 24, our campaign Aid in Living has brought the Board closer together than ever, and we are determined to continue our mission on your behalf.
From left to right, our Coordinator Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre, followed by our Board members: Ms. Marie Bourque,
Dr. Patrick Vinay, Dr. Catherine Ferrier, Ms. Michèle Boulva, Ms. Carmie Forlini, Dr. Paola Diadori, Mr. Alex King
(Mr. Cory Andrew Labrecque was unable to join us).
During this inspiring Olympic and Paralympic year, we invite you to become a Champion of Aid in Living, by supporting us in concrete ways!
We suggest two specific actions :
• Contribute to our first fundraising campaign in 2 years. You can send us your donation by cheque or credit card, or visit our website for easy online donation.
• Invite your friends and family to become allies of LWD by signing our manifesto. This page will help you spread your enthusiasm for Living with Dignity.
Please consider passing it on to your loved ones with a few personal words!
LWD in action
Discover the scope of our work by browsing our 2023-2024 annual report :
> vivredignite.org/2023-2024
Our upcoming projects:
– Highlight the many problems of advance requests for medical aid in dying, which will is possible in Quebec since October 30;
– Propose printable tools to encourage a loved one not to choose MAiD;
– Salute the legacy of Dr. Balfour Mount, 50 years after the first palliative care unit
he created first in Montreal in 1975 (at the Royal Victoria Hospital);
– To act as a counterweight to the many attempts to broaden access to euthanasia
(for those with mental disorders, children, people who are unable to consent,
and those tired of living);
– and much more in mind and heart!
Our mission is concentrated in Quebec, but we are happy sharing our expertise with our international allies to counter new extensions to euthanasia. One example of this was the International Meeting on the End of Life in Paris, last February. An Alliance Vita initiative that we were proud to co-organize with the European Institute of Bioethics.
For more details :
> vivredignite.org/intl-meeting-paris-2024
JAN
2025