The grim calculus of tracking the cost of Medical Assistance in Dying shows that B.C. doctors receive $283.85 for every “MAiD Event preparation and Procedure” they perform. Moreover, the Ministry of Health’s payment schedule lists six specific euthanasia-related services for which medical practitioners can be paid, from “MAiD Assessment Fee—Assessor Prescriber” ($43.24) to “MAiD Medication...
Category: Canada
Judge denies MAiD stay on Montreal centre
A Quebec Superior Court judge has denied the Archdiocese of Montreal’s request for a stay of the legal obligation placed on a Montreal palliative care centre to offer assisted death to its residents. Justice Catherine Piché said in her March 1 ruling that “the balance of convenience does not favour the issuance of a stay.”...
‘Graphic images’ law challenged
A Christian advocacy organization is challenging a St. Catharines city bylaw barring flyers with “graphic images” from being delivered to city homes. In a Feb. 20 application to the Ontario Superior Court, ARPA (Association for Reformed Political Action) asserted that city council stepped outside its authority by suppressing Charter-protected political speech. In September, after only...
Calgary’s Bishop Emeritus makes Top 10 list for speaking out on residential school graves story
Calgary Bishop Emeritus Fred Henry has been named one of the world’s “Top 10 people of 2023” by Inside the Vatican magazine for challenging the consensus on graves at former Indian residential schools. Henry was notified out of the blue in late February that he was featured on the cover along with Catholic luminaries such as...
Online bill could criminalize free speech, critics say
Two proposed bills, the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) and Bill C-367, have critics suggesting that if passed, they could threaten the freedom to express beliefs and convictions online and in the public square. Social media harms targeted include intimate content that is communicated without consent, sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor, foments...
Canadian pharmacare program’s contraception focus ‘deeply troubling’
With the framework of a national pharmacare program launched by the Liberal-NDP coalition, some are finding its initial focus on contraceptives a “deeply troubling” aspect of the deal. The pharmacare program promises to improve access to contraceptives for nine million Canadians, along with medication, including insulin, for an estimated 3.7 million people living with diabetes....
You can be Indigenous and Christian
Father Deacon Andrew Bennett is on an ongoing quest to reveal how Indigenous culture and Christianity coexist harmoniously and authentically. On Feb. 21, the faith communities program director for Cardus, a non-partisan think tank, moderated a panel discussion with three Indigenous Christians — Fr. Cristino Bouvette, Marsha Hanson and Caij Meloche — at Calgary’s St....
Brian Mulroney’s Catholic faith forged his identity
When Pope (now St.) John Paul II arrived in Ottawa in 1984 – the first Pontiff to visit this country – greeting him in Ottawa was Canada’s 18th Prime Minister, Brian Mulroney. Mr. Mulroney, one of 10 Catholics who have held that office since 1867, died on Feb. 29. The “little guy from Baie Comeau,”...
Canada’s Senate pushes MAiD for mentally ill three years down the road
Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) access for individuals solely living with a mental illness is officially delayed until March 17, 2027, as the Senate of Canada passed Bill C-62 at third reading Feb. 29. Senators passed the bill during their last sitting before March 19. It had to pass on Leap Day or else medical...
When church burnings are said to be ‘understandable’
According to the Catholic Civil Rights League’s (CCRL) Church Attacks Database, at least 85 Catholic churches have been set ablaze or vandalized since the unproven discovery on May 27, 2021, of 215 suspected unmarked graves near the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Police are investigating the latest victimized house of worship, St. Gabriel Catholic Mission...