Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) 2020

This will be an online Zoom meeting. Please review our online meeting instructions at: https://torontooasis.org/online-meeting-instructions
For technical support, please contact Clive directly by email (clive.hannah@gmail.com), or text or by phone (1-416-553-7720).

Our program will run from 11 am to 12:30 pm but you can join in to the meeting starting at 10:45 am. Volunteers please join by 10:30am.

Our featured speaker will be Tim Mt. Pleasant. Here’s some background information provided by Tim about the topic of his talk:

In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Carter v. Canada (https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/14637/index.do) that parts of the Criminal Code would need to change to satisfy the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The parts that prohibited medical assistance in dying would no longer be valid. The Supreme Court gave the government until June 6, 2016, to create a new law.

In June 2016, the Parliament of Canada passed federal legislation that allows eligible Canadian adults to request medical assistance in dying.

On February 24, 2020, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada introduced An Act to amend the Criminal Code (medical assistance in dying) in Parliament (https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/pl/ad-am/index.html), which proposed changes to Canada’s law on medical assistance in dying. This further amendment was in part, due to Quebec court ruling which identified areas of the Charter that were not being upheld with respect to equal access to MAiD. The government was given until March 2020 to institute changes.

In his presentation, Tim will talk about the way in which MAiD has changed the landscape of end of life processes and review situations in which people have opted to proceed with ending their life. Tim will talk about things to consider in pursuing MAiD and what the time frame from request to successful intervention looks like.

Tim Mt. Pleasant is a First Nations member of the LGBTQ2S+ and Disabled community from Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation and is currently studying Philosophy at Ryerson University. His experience comes from work in the Long-Term Care (10 years), Mental Health/Addictions (8 years) and Public Service Sector during the last 22 years. Tim has an interest in the area of Bioethics and in the values that one assumes when entering various systems, the fluidity of control and capacity, in addition to the new realm of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD).

Tim volunteers in areas that allow him to advocate for those with Mental Health or Addictions challenges, including marginalized populations and those that get lost in various systems, specifically within Health Care and Social Services sectors. He has served on the Board of Directors of PFLAG Canada, the Canadian Bioethics Society, ARCH Disability Law Centre, Community Resource Connections of Toronto, Toronto Distress Centres, and the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto. Tim is also a member of and currently sits on the Equity Committee of the Canadian Philosophical Association and Ryerson’s Research Ethics Board. Tim recently completed an Undergraduate placement in Bioethics @ Princess Margaret Cancer Centre / University Health network and is working to complete his final year of Philosophical studies at Ryerson. Tim plans to pursue graduate work in Public Health and Bioethics or Philosophy and Law. This next year will be one where these rather large decisions will be made.

Looking forward to seeing familiar faces and perhaps some new ones!

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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89285619433?pwd=eEs0cnFXVW94SjhQbXNLTEl5bDA0dz09