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Canadian law allows for assisted suicide for patients with psychiatric disorders
- swayvil 4y ago
- justforaskin 4y agoWe’ve seen that occurring with Covid in New Zealand. https://www.defendnz.co.nz/news-media/2022/3/exclusive-why-did-international-fact-checkers-distort-truth-about-euthanasia-for-covid-in-nz https://www.defendnz.co.nz/news-media/2022/3/exclusive-why-d...
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- DiggyJohnson 4y agoCanada (I.e. Canadian politics) seems like a weird place, based on my reading of headline news.
- UI_at_80x24 4y agoThe thing that my wife finds most confusing (she is from the USA), we don't elect(directly) our Prime Minister. We elect the party, and the party chooses the leader. 'Vote of no Confidence' is also a fun thing to look up. The person with the most power in the country is the Governor General. (appointed not elected)
- yieldcrv 4y agoCommonwealth countries aside, every country with a constitution newer than 1790 looked at the US system and said "mmmmmm patch this, patch that, let's not do that"
- TheSpiceIsLife 4y agoIncluding the USA...
- yieldcrv 4y agothose amendments are not nearly enough and pending and possible amendments lack consensus, as the consensus mechanisms are flawed
- nickff 4y agoThere are plenty of countries with constitutions that also have presidents. Phillipines and South Korea each have both. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_system#As_a_global_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_system#As_a_globa...
- yieldcrv 4y agoThe presence of a President has nothing to do with its similarity to the US system or any other country's Prime Minister. Whether in title or as head of state. There are many more nuances. What choices does that title or office have when presented with a bill from the legislative body? Pass or veto? All or nothing? Can they have it immediately reviewed by the constitutional court or does it require passage and subsequent enforcement against a citizen who needs resources and luck for the constitutional court to look at it while being masqueraded as an adequate check and balance? Is the constitutional court simultaneously an appellate court? Should it be? All important differences that most constitutions have iterated upon and evolved on.
- nickff 4y ago>"The person with the most power in the country is the Governor General. (appointed not elected) " I believe that the sovereign, Queen Elizabeth II is the one with the most power, and that the Governor General represents her majesty, and acts on Her behalf. This has been a matter of some contention, with a previous Governor General making a big fuss about protocols.
- fatbird 4y agoJust to be clear: Elizabeth is (to us) Queen of Canada, and other (lesser) possessions where she also holds titles :) Since the patriation of our constitution in 1982, the PM’s office has been the central power officially, deriving the office’s power from our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Queen and her apparatus are figureheads without real power.
- nickff 4y agoFrom Wikipedia (which seems to be concise and accurate): "executive authority remains vested in the Crown and is only entrusted by the sovereign to the government on behalf of the people."
- PeterWhittaker 4y agoWell, yes and no: it would be an extraordinary event indeed were the crown or its representative, the GG, to defy the “advice” of the government. For example, the last time that happened ([1]), the laws of ALL commonwealth countries were effectively changed to grant them greater autonomy and sovereignty through the Balfour Declaration and The Statutes of Westminster, which more clearly articulated that the government’s “advice” to the Crown is to be acted upon, not merely taken into consideration. Were the GG or The Crown to attempt to wield executive power contrary to or outside that advice, the result would in all likelihood be an immediate appeal to the Supreme Court, which would, in all likelihood, side with the government, and not with the GG/Crown. As it is, having executive power rest with the GG/Crown means that there is continuity in executive power, even during elections (the current PM and other ministers remain in their posts until they resign; they resign just before their replacements are sworn in). [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King–Byng_affair https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/King–Byng_affair
- buildbot 4y agoEffectively, the USA does not either. Parties are free to choose who to run any way they want if I recall correctly, and then when it comes down to voting, you are really only directing the electoral college who to pick. It's sorta halfway.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- NikolaNovak 4y agoI feel that is strictly true, but not necessarily practically true. It is exactly in the same vein that the Queen Elizabeth may hold the most power (over Canada as well, in fact), but things have to go sideways 7 ways to Sunday for that to be relevant, and my feeling is it's largely a one-shot gun: if they were to exercise their vested power in a relevant way, it'd likely be the last time they got the opportunity.
- nickelcitymario 4y agoYeah, but I'd still stack our politics over the politics of most other countries any day of the week. Every country has some weird stuff. Canada is relatively boring on this front, in my opinion. Example: One of our biggest controversies of the past few years involved our PM going on a vacation to an island[1]. That's about it. His family was invited to be guests on a private island, and we haven't stopped complaining about it ever since, because surely there's no explanation other than absolute and total corruption. I'm only being slightly cheeky about this. Like I said... boring. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_affair https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aga_Khan_affair
- buildbot 4y agoRob ford is not boring in my opinion! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Ford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Ford
- arcticbull 4y agoUnfortunately.
- jfabre 4y agoHuh, you forgot the time when the PM decided to call on the emergency act to get rid of the trucker protest in the capital. Which was annoying for the residents I concede, but was 99.99999% peaceful.
- jfabre 4y agoAnd may I add, proceeded to freeze the bank accounts of all the leaders without due process.
- jonny_eh 4y agoIt wasn't just annoying, it was increasingly dangerous: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/canada-ottawa-protests-trucker-coronavirus-vaccine/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/canada-ottaw...
- UI_at_80x24 4y agoHere's the real depressing part of Assisted Suicide; It is being approved for patients that cannot afford to live because Government Disability payments are too low. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/woman-with-chemical-sensitivities-chose-medically-assisted-death-after-failed-bid-to-get-better-housing-1.5860579 https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/woman-with-chemical-sensitivit... The profound shame of this isn't shared by elected officials.
- cjbgkagh 4y agoThe inevitable bonus in treating people badly to save money is they are now pushed to suicide so the government gets to save even more money. Plus there is no-one left to complain about it once they are gone. I worry that it’ll become an easy solution to many difficult problems. Take the psychologizing of ME/CFS and Long Covid for example, how many of those people are going to be corralled into this.
- phendrenad2 4y agoThis is just euthanasia of the poor, right? It seems Canada is regressing away from some of its liberal ideals.
- ipaddr 4y agoCanada is following liberal ideals to their natural conclusions.
- notch656a 4y ago
- yesco 4y agoNot sure how you could suggest she was bluffing when she actually went through with it...
- SQueeeeeL 4y ago>What a piece of work. She was using threatening of death as a blackmail. I don't feel bad that someone who blackmailed others in this way had their card called. Wait, are you saying your glad someone with a mental illness who wasn't getting the help they needed (to the point they felt that they needed to end their life) is somehow a good and just thing..... it wasn't like she threatened a spouse or individual, the government of an industrialized western nation wasn't providing proper care.....
- vorpalhex 4y agoMany suicide attempts who survive regret their attempts. That makes this seem problematic. [0] https://www.wect.com/2020/11/17/it-was-instant-regret-golden-gate-bridge-suicide-survivor-share-story-virtual-event-wilmington/ https://www.wect.com/2020/11/17/it-was-instant-regret-golden...
- jotm 4y agoNot surprising, the piece of diarrhea in the skull probably rewires itself faster than light. Live 20+ years feeling like the worst garbage? Sure. Jump off a bridge? Hell naw, man, here's reasons to live and stuff. But the end result of both is the same. Survival instinct is a bitch.
- ziddoap 4y agoA difference that is worth considering here is that assisted suicide has requirements (meetings with clinicians, approvals, waiting periods, etc.) whereas non-medically-assisted suicide attempts do not have such requirements. It's reasonable to assume that, at least in some cases, those that would regret their decision would not be approved for assisted suicide or would otherwise be dissuaded.
- belval 4y agoYou are equating two very different groups here. The guidelines around assisted suicide are extremely strict, this is not futurama "suicide booth". Being overly holistic about life is disrespecting the right of these people to dignity. We are talking about people with a progressing disease that cannot be cured and that would be forced to spend several months in extreme suffering just because "suicide is bad".
- switchbak 4y agoIn those terminal cases, that makes sense. This woman was in her fifties, and took her life with governmental involvement because her housing wouldn't restrict the use of strong cleaners and prevent her neighbors from smoking cigarettes. This is a massively different thing, and some of the professionals involved in the assisted suicide took great issue with the circumstances here. There is certainly a discussion that ought to be had around the circumstances of this (tragic) case.
- jotm 4y agoHeh, anything but allowing them to help themselves. But Canada is way ahead here compared to most countries. Simply on account of cannabis laws. It ain't much though, still better than half of Europe (likely not the half you're thinking of lol). If you have mental problems and are desperate (and/or have nothing to lose), do yourself a favour and look into illegal drugs.
- CPLNTN 4y agoI hope people don’t downvote your comment. I seriously contemplated suicide in the past multiple times, following an ocd diagnosis and a severe depression episode, and the one time I was closer to it I decided that I might as well try self medication with drugs. Better escaping reality with drugs than be dead, right? Of course, it is a dangerous strategy and a recipe for addiction, but as you said, if you have nothing else to loose, it might be an option. Fast forward 6 months, I don’t have any suicidal thoughts anymore, I got a job that I’m capable of keeping, and I recently started therapy since now I have a job to pay for it. I’m pretty cautious about my drug supplier, I’ve got two very close friends that monitor me to look for (physical) addiction red flags, and I try to be as safe as possible during consumption. Yes, I psychologically need drugs to function, but at least I function, and I’m not dead, and I consider that an achievement. If anyone reading is contemplating the same solution, please do your own research and ALWAYS test your drugs. P.s.: as a general rule, I suggest avoiding opioids.
- jotm 4y agoYes, I've started using illegal, what many consider "heavy" drugs just this year and it is changing the absolute trainwreck of a life I've had. I only regret putting it off for so long because y'know, drugs are bad mmmkay. I'll say that managing addiction is pretty hard, I seem to be able to do it even after falling into binges a couple of times (which is really dangerous). I cannot stress enough that you need to have personal responsibility and really understand it. But, when your only other option seems to be suicide (which I failed at, too), why not.