News

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition— Photo : Unsplash.com

QUEBEC - 2023 has been declared the year of "assisted suicide" by Quebec media. 

"Are we about to take the step from medical assisted dying to assisted suicide as if it were the normal order of things?" asks Le Journal de Québec in an article titled "Make way for the year of assisted suicide" by Emmanuelle Latraverse. 

Starting March 2023, patients with mental illness will be able to apply for "MAID" across Canada and changes to bill 38 that are scheduled to take place this year would possibly allow patients with Alzheimer to apply for "MAID" in advance in the province of Quebec. 

"In 2023, we will be living in the land of assisted suicide" reports Latraverse. 

Even though "The College of Physicians promises that it will be able to establish guidelines to avoid abuses" according to Le Journal de Québec, this "new normal" is not accepted by everyone in Quebec.

Physicians Against Euthanasia have been expressing their concerns to the College of Physicians in an open letter, but it has yet to receive a response according to the latest news announced in December 2022 on their blog. 

Another group of doctors demonstrated their resistance in Ontario:

"Physicians Together with Vulnerable Canadians is advocating in Ontario to improve patient protections and promote physicians' conscience rights," reports the Physicians' Collective Against Euthanasia newsletter. 

The Physicians against euthanasia says that requests for euthanasia are increasingly revealing reasons that previously would not qualify, such as poverty or lack of medical and social support.

As the New Year begins in earnest, I thought I would go over some of the things we are planning for 2023. 

1) The founding of a pro-life group for students in Montreal: Arpad Nagy, our director of political operations, took charge of this project. A Students for Life -- Montreal launch event will be held THIS SATURDAY on January 14, 2022 at 2065 Sherbrooke. Here's a part of Arpad's invitation:

"...on January 14th, we are launching Students for Life Montreal. 

We invite all pro-life students in CEGEP or university to attend. We will have talks, apologetics and networking. Come and meet other pro-life students from your school, come learn how to better defend life, come find way to get involved. Please RSVP to confirm your presence here. (If you live too far to attend but would be interested in a group like this in your area, please send me an email and we’ll see what we can do.)

Join us on January 14th, from 1 pm-5 pm—it’s open to all students or recent alumni.
We have guest speakers coming from Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) and Canadian Centre for a Bioethical Reform (CCBR), who will share about the successes of pro-life campus ministry."

2) The Quebec Life Coalition "micro-conferences". Myself and Arpad, along with other colleagues and guests, will tour the province, visiting several regions of Quebec. We will be presenting "micro-conferences", one or two presentations, giving plenty of time for discussion and networking. Don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to organize a conference in your area!

3) 40 Days for Life in Sherbrooke and Montreal, and Vigil 365. Brian Jenkins, our Vigil and Demonstration Host, will be in Montreal and Sherbrooke to once again organize 40 Days for Life, international prayer vigils for the end of abortion. Brian will also host, with his friends and helpers, Vigil 365, that is to say a presence of one hour each day outside a few abortion facilities near the corner of Berri-Sainte-Catherine in Montreal.

4) The March for Life in Ottawa, Thursday May 11, 2023, with an associated conference, in French. The National March for Life is an annual march to demand justice for the 100,000 children who are killed in their mother's womb each year across Canada. Abortion is funded entirely by taxpayers for any reason or no reason, up to the moment of birth.

5) QLC Pilgrimages. My colleague Brian Jenkins organizes several pro-life pilgrimages throughout the year, to various places. Stay tuned for dates and places, throughout the year.

6) Conference and Corn Roast at the QLC offices --- a moment of sharing where pro-lifers from all walks of life come together to eat delicious corn on the cob and listen to various presentations on faith, family and life , from conception to natural death.

7) Life Chain. This is an annual one-hour event, held on the first Sunday of October, in hundreds of locations simultaneously, across North America, combining prayer and peaceful protest.

8) Quebec Life Coalition convention, 2022. Our conventions are the high point of the year when pro-life and pro-family activists arrive from all over Quebec to listen to special guests and exchange views.

9) Our news service on the web and in social networks. If the mass media too often offers news on faith, family and life, which goes in the direction of death, Campagne Québec-Vie offers news from a Christian and pro-life perspective.

10) Our "Enceinte and Inquiète" (Pregnant and worried) service, for pregnant women in difficulty, will continue to help pregnant women in difficulty by referring them to material, medical, psychological and spiritual resources, for the good of the mother and child.

I hope you'll stand with us in 2023. We are counting on your participation and support!

For Life,

Georges Buscemi

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition— Photo : Unsplash.com

QUEBEC — Euthanasia is being expanded again for quebecers, this time for those suffering with Alzheimer’s disease. 

“Quebec's Minister of Health and Seniors, Sonia Bélanger, will table a new version of the bill that aims to expand medical assistance in dying (MAID)” in 2023, reported CTV News.

Bélanger is taking over the bill from Christian Dubé, Health Minister, who failed last year to pass Bill 38 that would allow people with Alzheimer's disease to make an early request for “MAID” should they want to apply for it before they are unable to. 

Patients with severe Alzheimer's are usually incapable of offering clear and informed consent and are therefore prohibited under law from accessing “MAID”.

Quebec's “MAID” law requires that patients give written consent to euthanasia within 90 days of the euthanasia procedure, this Bill would allow for them to apply earlier. 

The National Assembly of Quebec’s official pdf document from 2022 on the bill explains: 

“The purpose of this bill is mainly to amend the Act respecting end-of-life care as regards eligibility for medical aid in dying.

The bill makes eligible for such aid persons suffering from a serious and incurable neuromotor disability who meet the other criteria set out in that Act.

The bill also allows persons suffering from a serious and incurable illness leading to incapacity to give consent to care to make an advance request for medical aid in dying so that they can receive such aid once they have become incapable. The bill prescribes the applicable rules regarding the content and form of such advance requests and establishes the responsibilities of the various resources that participate in making or implementing such requests. Furthermore, it determines the criteria to be complied with in order for medical aid in dying to be administered to a person who has become incapable of giving consent to care, in particular the criteria regarding observation of the suffering the person is experiencing. The Commission sur les soins de fin de vie is also given the function of overseeing the application of the requirements specific to advance requests for medical aid in dying. (...)” 

Montreal Police officers near the COP15 conference gathered after a protest earlier that morning

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition— Photo : Joanne Of Arc

MONTREAL – The Quebec government prohibits police officers from wearing Catholic symbols on their uniforms.

CBC News (Radio-Canada) obtained information that confirms the Montreal police (SPVM) asked their officers to stop wearing St.Michael’s badge on their uniforms while on the job.

"After analysis, it was agreed that the crest of Saint Michael worn by SPVM (Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal) police officers on their uniform is a religious sign within the meaning of the law," the memo sent out to officers said, as reported by CBC News.

"Consequently, we ask you now to kindly remove from your uniforms any crest symbolizing or referring to the Archangel Saint Michael, in order to comply with the law." the memo included. 

It was while monitoring protests related to the COP15 international forum that Montreal police officers were seen wearing a St.Michael badge on their uniform that said “Saint Michael Protect Us”. 

Simons' ad "All is Beauty" for euthanasia that was launched in October 2022

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition— Photo : Youtube screenshot 

The fashion company Simons headquartered in Quebec City that launched a controversial ad in late October 2022 promoting euthanasia has now removed it, after major backlash from the media, according to The Message. 

“All is Beauty” is the name of the TV ad by a women’s fashion company La Maison Simons, that has been Canada’s style authority since 1840. The campaign that lasted about a month before it was cut short, was promoting assisted suicide through the story of Jennyfer Hatch who chose to end her life at 37-year-old through “M.A.I.D” after being diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos syndrome. 

“Major media outlets — including Fox News, the National Post, Daily Mail, and New York Post — suggested that the campaign “celebrates” or “promotes” suicide. The rhetoric quickly got more heated on social media, leading Simons to cut the campaign short, remove it from digital channels, and shift its marketing focus to the holidays”, according to an article by The Message published in December 2022. 

In an interview that was released prior to the launch of the campaign, the CEO of Simons, Peter Simons, expressed being scared about how this project would be received. (Unfortunately, the original video of it is no longer available, but a part of it can still be watched in Ezra Levant’s show from Rebel News). 

Simons’ commercial begins with a dark scene of an empty hospital room and the narration of Jennyfer which states that “dying in a hospital is not what is natural”, followed by a subtitle that says “Simons presents: The Most Beautiful Exit” as the scene of the hospital room is being pulled away from the audience into another “peaceful” scene of an ocean.  

In this end of year, we present you, with our best wishes for the new year, a selection of articles published by us in 2022.

Wishing you a good reading with these news from Quebec and Canada on the Culture of Life.

Augustin Hamilton,
Responsible for the news site

Articles of the Year 2022:

Minister of Justice says euthanasia for Canadians is still a "top priority"
The Canadian government is delaying indefinitely the expansion of euthanasia for people with mental illness, but declares the expansion of the bill remains a "top priority".

"Late-term abortions are performed here every week" - Nurse at the Jewish General Hospital
A nurse at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal informed Quebec Life Coalition that late-term abortions, i.e. at 21 weeks gestation or more, are performed on a "weekly" basis at this famous Montreal hospital.

Quebec College of Physicians criticized for justifying euthanasia of critically ill infants
Catherine Levesque published an article on October 11, 2022 in the National Post. She reports that the Quebec College of Physicians is being criticized by advocacy groups for proposing that euthanasia for critically ill newborns be made legal.

"NO TO A MORGENTALER PARK" IN MONTREAL
On September 10th, Quebec Life Coalition organized an event in Montreal, at Beaujeu Park to protest against it being renamed after Dr. Henry Morgentaler.

The truth about the 6700 victims in long term care centers with Sylvain Laforest
Have we euthanized our seniors in long term care center (CHSLD) between the spring of 2020 and 2021?

The 40 Days for Life in Sherbrooke
"Jesus-Christ is a God of Life, light and truth. If only the people who are hard on us knew how much we love them! We are not here just to resist, it's a gesture of love to be here (...) It is not always easy to be here, but it is especially in these difficult moments that we must stay and spread the love of the Lord in the world".

Interview with Dr. Robert Béliveau, an expert in a documentary about victims in the Quebec Long Term Care Homes (2020-2021)
Dr. Robert Béliveau is a retired family physician. He is one of the experts who participated in Sylvain Laforest's documentary "CHSLD - Je me souviens" [Long Term Care Homes– I Remember].

Controversy surrounds choice of "drag queen" as "star fairy" at Montreal Santa parade
"I can't take it anymore. Who is asking for a drag queen to interfere with the imagination of children?"

Vigil 365: Two hearts. Two souls. Two lives!
Every morning of the year, a Vigil is held near the Berri-UQAM metro station. It was initiated in February 2020 by its organizer Brian Jenkins. People meet to pray for life and honor the unborn.

We must reaffirm "the supremacy of God and the rule of law" in order to protect the weakest
We are fundamentally opposed to the introduction and any expansion of MAID, particularly because MAID violates the spirit of the preamble to the Canadian Constitution: "Whereas Canada is founded on principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law."

I was in Montreal last Monday to discuss with the Quebec Life Coalition team our plan for 2023. Here are some of the activities agreed upon for next year:

1) The founding of a pro-life group for students in Montreal: Arpad Nagy, our director of political operations, took charge of this project. A Students for Life -- Montreal launch event will be held on January 14, 2022 at 2065 Sherbrooke. Here's a part of Arpad's invitation:

"...on January 14th, we are launching Students for Life Montreal. 

We invite all pro-life students in CEGEP or university to attend. We will have talks, apologetics and networking. Come and meet other pro-life students from your school, come learn how to better defend life, come find way to get involved. Please RSVP to confirm your presence here. (If you live too far to attend but would be interested in a group like this in your area, please send me an email and we’ll see what we can do.)

Join us on January 14th, from 1 pm-5 pm—it’s open to all students or recent alumni.
We have guest speakers coming from Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) and Canadian Centre for a Bioethical Reform (CCBR), who will share about the successes of pro-life campus ministry."

2) The Quebec Life Coalition "micro-conferences". Myself and Arpad, along with other colleagues and guests, will tour the province, visiting several regions of Quebec. We will be presenting "micro-conferences", one or two presentations, giving plenty of time for discussion and networking. Don't hesitate to contact us if you would like to organize a conference in your area!

3) 40 Days for Life in Sherbrooke and Montreal, and Vigil 365. Brian Jenkins, our Vigil and Demonstration Host, will be in Montreal and Sherbrooke to once again organize 40 Days for Life, international prayer vigils for the end of abortion. Brian will also host, with his friends and helpers, Vigil 365, that is to say a presence of one hour each day outside a few abortion facilities near the corner of Berri-Sainte-Catherine in Montreal.

4) The March for Life in Ottawa, Thursday May 11, 2023, with an associated conference, in French. The National March for Life is an annual march to demand justice for the 100,000 children who are killed in their mother's womb each year across Canada. Abortion is funded entirely by taxpayers for any reason or no reason, up to the moment of birth.

5) QLC Pilgrimages. My colleague Brian Jenkins organizes several pro-life pilgrimages throughout the year, to various places. Stay tuned for dates and places, throughout the year.

6) Conference and Corn Roast at the QLC offices --- a moment of sharing where pro-lifers from all walks of life come together to eat delicious corn on the cob and listen to various presentations on faith, family and life , from conception to natural death.

7) Life Chain. This is an annual one-hour event, held on the first Sunday of October, in hundreds of locations simultaneously, across North America, combining prayer and peaceful protest.

8) Quebec Life Coalition convention, 2022. Our conventions are the high point of the year when pro-life and pro-family activists arrive from all over Quebec to listen to special guests and exchange views.

9) Our news service on the web and in social networks. If the mass media too often offers news on faith, family and life, which goes in the direction of death, Campagne Québec-Vie offers news from a Christian and pro-life perspective.

10) Our "Enceinte and Inquiète" (Pregnant and worried) service, for pregnant women in difficulty, will continue to help pregnant women in difficulty by referring them to material, medical, psychological and spiritual resources, for the good of the mother and child.

I hope you'll stand with us in 2023. We are counting on your faithful support!

For Life,

Georges Buscemi

N. B. This is the LAST DAY of our Advent fundraising campaign. However, we still have $6,239 to reach our goal for this Advent period. If you are one of the many people who have already donated recently, thank you! If you haven't already, please donate today.

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition— Photo : Unsplash

QUEBEC – La Presse is promoting euthanasia for Quebecers suffering from mental disorders in view of the expansion of Bill C-7.

As of March 2023, Bill C-7 will allow Quebecers suffering from mental disorders to resort to "medical assistance in dying" to offer them this "health care" service according to the Government of Canada's website. In anticipation of this, "Doctors across the country are preparing for the possibility that the eligibility criteria for MAiD will be expanded to include people with mental illness," reports Nathalie Collard for La Presse, on December 11, 2022.

In her French article titled "Is Quebec ready to extend medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to people with mental health problems?", Mrs. Collard informs that this question "will arise in three months, when the temporary exclusion provided for in the federal law expires." Meanwhile, "a committee is looking at the issue in Ottawa," says Nathalie Collard.

She continues, "How do we know if the desire to die is specific to the disease or to the patient's will? And how do we determine the irreversible nature of a condition? There are many grey areas in mental health, it is true. But doctors assure us that there are also grey areas in cases of physical suffering and that the MAid is not excluded for that reason, so why make it an exclusion criterion in cases of mental health disorders? Their question is legitimate".

Is their question truly legitimate? Dr. Paul Saba, a family physician in Montreal and author of the book Made To Live , maintains a contrary view. He wrote a brief in French on the subject and its name says it all: "People with mental illness or cognitive disorders should not be euthanized".

In this brief, Dr. Saba writes, "My medical code of ethics limits me to act in order to protect and improve the health of my patients individually and collectively, to do no harm to my patients, to prescribe only what is medically necessary, and to act with the best medical practices using scientific principles. MAiD for patients with mental health or cognitive decline is contrary to these ethical principles. These are set out in the code of ethics of the Collège des médecins du Québec."

On the other hand, according to La Presse, the majority of Quebec physicians and psychiatrists would support the expansion of Bill C-7:

"The Collège des médecins du Québec and the Association des médecins psychiatres du Québec are both in favour of broadening the criteria. Advocacy organizations for people with mental health problems are also in favour. They are advocating for recognition of their suffering and an end to their infantilization".

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition --Photo:Youtube screenshot of the press conference

OTTAWA - The Canadian government is delaying indefinitely the expansion of euthanasia for people with mental illness, but declares the expansion of the bill remains a "top priority".

Bill C-7, an Act to amend the Criminal Code regarding "medical assistance in dying", was introduced in the House of Commons on February 24, 2020 by the Minister of Justice. It was adopted at first reading on the same day. Since then, Bill C-7 has undergone numerous amendments expanding it to include more people. The next amendment would expand "medical assistance in dying" for people with mental illnesses.

Despite the announcement of the delay in expanding "medical assistance in dying" for the mentally ill, euthanasia for Canadians remains a "top priority for our government" according to Justice Minister David Lametti as said at his press conference.

"The government had heard from experts who are concerned that the health care system may not be ready to handle these complex cases," said Justice Minister David Lametti on December 15 in Ottawa, according to Le Devoir. However, the Minister of Justice reassures the public that this will not change the course of the proposed expansion of Bill C-7 for Canadians with mental illnesses, but rather ensure that it runs smoothly.

"My colleague, Minister Duclot, and Health Canada have been working closely with the provinces, territories, and their medical communities to prepare for the evolution of physician assisted dying. The progress is significant. We are well on our way to finalizing national standards for medically assisted dying for people with a mental disorder as their sole criterion. They will be ready before the March deadline," said David Lametti.

By Joanne of Arc for Quebec Life Coalition

QUEBEC - Euthanasia is now a "health care" service for which Quebec ranks first in the world.

The province of Quebec in Canada is ranked first among all countries in the world this year for euthanasia or MAiD "care", beating out the Netherlands and Belgium, according to CBC's article on December 9.

"The number of people who have used medical assistance in dying (MAiD) has exploded since the beginning of the pandemic: it has risen from 1774 in 2019-2020 to 3663 in 2021-2022", reports CBC.

According to the president of the Commission on End-of-Life Care, Dr. Michel Bureau, the data that puts Quebec first in the world is the following: "In Quebec, 5.1% of deaths are the result of medical assistance in dying. In the Netherlands, it's 4.8% of deaths, and in Belgium, it's 2.3%", says the CBC article.

Le Devoir reports that "The commission presented its annual report in the National Assembly on Friday and issued a press release in which its president, Dr. Michel Bureau, stated that "Quebec continues to do well" in terms of "respecting the criteria for the application of the Act" and "the last resort nature of this care".

According to the press release, "more and more physicians are integrating this care into their practice. The 2021-2022 data shows that there was a 26% increase in physicians participating in this care across the continuum offered to patients, compared to 2020-2021."

"Dr. Bureau says he is surprised by the rapid increase in the number of requests for MAiD in Quebec. According to him, this growth could be explained by the fact that medical assistance in dying is presented to patients as care, and not as euthanasia," according to CBC.