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Montréal, February 20, 2025 – The Living with Dignity citizen network wishes to extend its condolences to the family and loved ones of a great Québec professor and philosopher,
Mr. Thomas De Koninck, who passed away on February 16th in Québec City.

Since the announcement of his passing, tributes and praise have poured in across the media and social networks. His son Marc, Université Laval, and MNA Sol Zanetti have already highlighted the exceptional contribution of this man of intellect and generous heart. Did he inspire the character of The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, as author Christine Michaud reminds us? His contribution to intellectual life, in Québec and internationally, is beyond dispute.

As many have noted, his contribution to the question of human dignity was often at the heart of his civic engagement. This was recognized on numerous occasions, notably with the awarding of the La Bruyère Prize by the Académie française for his book De la dignité humaine in 1996.

His deep commitment to this issue made him an important voice in the debates surrounding end-of-life care in Québec and a formidable ally of our cause. Over the years, his only two appearances before the National Assembly of Québec addressed this subject (2010: written brief and video testimony; 2021: written brief and video testimony).

We reproduce here the conclusion of his brief submitted to the Select Committee on Dying with Dignity in 2010:

For my part, I am deeply convinced, with arguments to support this view, that every human being, whoever they may be and whatever their condition, is unique in the world and possesses equal dignity — that of being an end in themselves. One can therefore never say or think: “he does not matter,” or “her life is no longer worth living.” With human dignity understood in this rigorous sense, which stands in contrast to the Roman concept of dignitas of old, no compromise is possible.
Every human being matters.

This conviction led him on many occasions to speak in favour of the “treasure of palliative care” and to oppose all forms of euthanasia and assisted suicide — the expression “medical assistance in dying” (MAiD) remained, in his view, an oxymoron.

As French lawmakers debate this week the possibility of establishing a “right to assistance in dying,” and as the expansion in Canada of eligibility for MAiD in cases of mental illness remains scheduled for March 2027, the work of Thomas De Koninck calls for reflection.