It’s the last week of summer in 2023 and the parliamentary return in Ottawa! Our Living with Dignity citizen network has been working behind the scenes on numerous projects during the summer season and is preparing to communicate with you regularly in the coming months.
As the menu promises to be quite full, we will strive to keep in touch with you on a weekly basis with information you need to know or action you may need to take, a concise press review, or events to follow. In the content of this article, we are pleased to share with you the excellent news about the upcoming creation of Place Carpe Diem, a fantastic idea developed by the Carpe Diem – Alzheimer Resource Centre team in Trois-Rivières.
As for the press review, we will be conducting various tests throughout the fall to provide you with essential information. With Meta no longer allowing the sharing of media articles on its platforms (including on our Facebook page), we must be creative in sharing news stories. That’s why we are launching a weekly press review via the content curator Wakelet, which will allow us to simultaneously update our newsletters and our website.
In the press review below, I particularly invite you to read the article by Canadian journalist based in Washington, Mr. Alexander Raikin. In his text, which focuses mainly on the Canadian and Australian experience with medical assistance in dying / euthanasia, we learn that Dr. Félix Pageau (a geriatrician with whom we cooperated during our press conference on Bill 11 and for our video series) was the subject of an investigation by the Collège des médecins du Québec following his participation on October 25, 2022, in the federal Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying (AMAD). Fortunately, the process ended because the CMQ did not have jurisdiction to investigate statements made during a parliamentary committee. Our X page (formerly Twitter) remains the preferred place to stay informed about current events and our live interactions with decision-makers, experts, and journalists. However, we will not hesitate to contact you by email, early in the morning, when news requires your immediate attention or reaction during the day. To receive these communications, you only need to sign our manifesto and subscribe to our newsletters.
On behalf of our entire team, we look forward to cooperating together, each in our own way, to promote the convictions of our citizen network!
Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre
Coordinator
Living with Dignity citizen network
Place Carpe Diem: Living and Aging at Home
Congratulations to Carpe Diem – Alzheimer Resource Centre and its founder Nicole Poirier for the Place Carpe Diem initiative in Trois-Rivières, “an innovative and inspiring neighborhood project where everyone can live and age, together, and at home.” Well-known for their exceptional support of individuals living with neurocognitive diseases and their loved ones, Carpe Diem had the great idea to launch this project just a few days before World Alzheimer’s Day on September 21. Hopefully, such a project will inspire many others, with the creation of an international training center, a place for education and research on the Carpe Diem approach. We can only support one of its ultimate goals: that “aid to live” is as supported, considered, and valued as “aid to die”! For more details on the project and its fundraising campaign: www.placecarpediem.com or the video below (in French).
Our Press Review
In English and French.
Upcoming Events this Week
Dre Kathryn Mannix Conference: Forgotten Wisdom: reclaiming public understanding of dying
September 19th at 7:30 PM in Montreal
Hosted by McGill’s Council on Palliative Care, the conference will be delivered in English and will be followed by a bilingual question period.
Details and registration
https://www.mcgill.ca/council-on-palliative-care/en/events-resources/upcoming-events
Book Launch: Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in Canada: Key Multidisciplinary Perspective
September 19th at 6:30 PM in Ottawa and online Organized by Cardus.
Details and registration www.cardus.ca/news/events/a-critical-review-of-maid-book-launch
Additionally, we recommend reading the 21-page document (in English) published by Cardus on September 14th: Ethical Issues in Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide in Canada https://www.cardus.ca/research/health/perspectives-paper/ethical-issues-in-euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide-in-canada
The 3rd edition of the Collège des médecins’ Rendez-vous – End-of-life care: where are we?
September 20th from 12:15 PM to 1:30 PM, online
A webinar hosted by journalist Emmanuelle Latraverse with a panel firmly in favor of expanding access to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). We will closely follow the exchange between Dr. Mauril Gaudreault, President of the Collège des médecins, and Dr. Michel Bureau, President of the End-of-life Care Commission. This summer, we responded to the Commission’s reminders* to Quebec physicians. As the CMQ (Collège des médecins du Québec) reacted very negatively to this initiative (see their statement and our response via X), it will be very interesting to hear their statements.
Details and registration (also available for users) https://www.cmq.org/en/about-us/events/rendez-vous-college
*Please note that the Commission’s memo on end-of-life care is now publicly available (in French) on the blog page of Erwan Le Morhedec, author of the book “Fin de vie en République” (End of Life in the Republic) https://www.koztoujours.fr/au-quebec-un-rappel-officiel-contre-les-euthanasies-illegales.https://www.mcgill.ca/council-on-palliative-care/events-resources/upcoming-events
SEP
2023