{"id":18547,"date":"2026-09-02T16:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/?p=18547"},"modified":"2026-09-02T16:28:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T20:28:00","slug":"newsletter-september-2-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vivredignite.org\/en\/newsletter-september-2-2006\/","title":{"rendered":"On Our Radar for the Fall, a Front Page Decoded, and Press Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dear allies,

The Living with Dignity citizen network is back from summer break as the Quebec election campaign gets underway, and we’ll be following it closely for you.

Lots of information to share as we get back into the swing of things. Thank you for your support of our mission,

Jasmin Lemieux-Lefebvre
Coordinator
Living with Dignity citizen network<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Breaking down the Journal de Montr\u00e9al front page from August 4th<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Earlier this month, the Journal de Montr\u00e9al (and de Qu\u00e9bec) ran this front-page headline:

<\/span>With medical assistance in dying
Record number of organ donations<\/a><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The article was accompanied by a photo of Ms. Caroline Goulet, who died on July 16th, 2026, at the age of 47.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Screenshot of the feature.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The first article covered the end of life of\nMs. Goulet, who was pleased to be able to donate her organs to four people\nfollowing her medically assisted death. She lived with multiple sclerosis. The\nsecond article discussed the record number of 27 Quebecers who chose last year\nto donate their organs after receiving MAID. As soon as the piece was\npublished, we responded on our social media to point out the many ethical\nquestions this act raises: “When donation appears to be encouraged by\nhealth care professionals or family members, this can create a sense of\nobligation or otherwise influence the patient’s decision to proceed with MAID.\n(…) Moreover, moral expectations placed on patients could discourage them\nfrom reconsidering their decision, for fear of disappointing those around\nthem.” (excerpt translated from D. Rodr\u00edguez-Arias et al., “<\/span>Organ Donation After Medical Aid in Dying: An\nEthical Overview<\/a>,”\nBioethics 40, no. 3 (2026): 350\u2013358). <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

On August 8th, Jonathan Marchand, president of\nCoop ASSIST and disability rights advocate, published a piece that went on to\ngo viral (1,200 reactions, 337 shares on Facebook). He shared this 2024 YouTube\npodcast, “<\/span>Multiple Sclerosis, I’m Talking\nAbout It with Caroline Goulet<\/a>” (in French). In it, Ms. Goulet spoke about various challenges\nreflecting a clear lack of day-to-day support.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

We invite you to read some of the comments\n(+660!) <\/span>under Mr. Marchand’s post<\/a>, which he took the time to respond\nto thoughtfully. Chapeau! <\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

We shared our discomfort with the journalist\nover the lack of any mention of the shortage of access to care and services\nleading up to Ms. Goulet’s MAID. We also suggested that Transplant Qu\u00e9bec stop\npromoting organ donation this way for people about to receive MAID. Transplant\nQu\u00e9bec’s approach has always been not to raise the question of organ donation\nbefore a person’s MAID request has been approved. Promoting it upstream to a\nbroad public may lead a person to consider a so-called “altruistic”\ndeath rather than fight for access to the care and services they are entitled\nto. This narrative echoes the “false choice” faced by people with\ndisabilities in Canada, <\/span>denounced by Ms. Rosemary Kayess, Vice-Chair of\nthe UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities<\/a>. This is a real problem that needs\nto be addressed.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>

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Quebec’s proposed bill on self-directed\npersonal assistance is a step in the right direction: <\/span>https:\/\/coopassist.ca\/programme-apa\/<\/a> (in French).<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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On our radar<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The\nQuebec elections
\n<\/b>The campaign\nleading up to the October 5th elections began on August 28th. We will be\nspeaking out publicly in the coming days to reiterate our citizen network’s\npriorities. <\/span>In the meantime, don’t miss the following (in French):<\/o:p><\/p>