The Living with Dignity citizen network participated in the Select Committee on the Evolution of the Act Respecting End-of-Life Care on Monday, August 9th.
We invite you to read the English version of our briefing submitted: https://vivredignite.org/en/resources/briefs
Here is the video of our public hearing with the commissioners, our coordinator Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre and Julie Senécal, a citizen with mental health challenges.
Presentation (10 min.) and question period (35 min.), available only in French. The audio is fine, but the video is sometimes pixelated. We invite you to reduce the size of your window to better appreciate the testimonies.
Special thanks to Julie: this was her first public testimony of her experience. Here is an excerpt from her intervention:
“Let me introduce myself: Julie Senécal, 48 years old, mother of 4 daughters, epidemiologist by training. Place of residence: the Outaouais. In 2013, I sank into a major depression that lasted 8 years, and I am still fragile, despite therapies and (poorly) available resources. During these 8 years, I was hospitalized 5 times for suicide attempts.
(…)
During this period of intense distress, with no resources available, if medical aid in dying had been offered to me, I would have signed “yes”, seeing no other way out. Today, I finally have the chance to be well taken care of medically (by a psychiatrist and family doctor), socially (by social workers, psychologists and support groups) and I can enjoy life and my 4 children with happiness. I have regained my ‘joie de vivre’. However, I needed help and guidance spanning several years to get here.”
You can follow our social networks to find out how the Special Committee’s work is progressing:
https://twitter.com/vivredignite
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https://www.linkedin.com/company/vivredignite
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It is with heart that we continue to mobilize in order to accompany people made vulnerable because of illness, old age or disability. This is our mission!
AUG
2021