DWDC’s Rachel Phan reflects on what it was like to help the late Don Kent blog about his journey with assisted dying.

The Canadian government must not wait any longer to restore the rights of people who have been discriminated against under the federal assisted dying law, Dying With Dignity Canada says.

For a second straight year, participating in court challenges has been a significant focus of Dying With Dignity Canada’s advocacy. To keep you up to date, we have assembled the following roundup on what’s happening in the major legal cases we’re working to influence.

Health Canada’s decision to create a federal Office of Palliative Care is a “promising step forward,” Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC) says.

The announcement of a new federal bureau dedicated to improving access to end-of-life care appeared in the federal government’s new national framework on palliative care, which Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor tabled in Parliament on Tuesday. The framework sets out goals for improving education about end-of-life care, creating supports for clinicians and caregivers, and expanding access for Canadians with life-limiting illnesses.

In Case You Missed It is a round-up of news articles and commentaries featuring Dying With Dignity Canada speakers and stories. Did you miss these stories in November?

The option of a medically assisted death can be a source of hope and relief for Canadians who are suffering intolerably as the result of a severe medical condition. But certain elements of our assisted dying rules are harming the very people they're meant to protect.

Take Owen, an Okanagan Valley man who was diagnosed with a rare melanoma cell cancer in August 2016. Owen and his wife, Marj, successfully advocated for his right to medical assistance in dying (MAID) after some resistance from his medical team. 

But going through the rigorous legal and medical process of being assessed and, later, approved for an assisted death didn't bring Owen and his family total peace of mind. In fact, he faced an additional burden once he was found to be eligible: the law's requirement that he have the capacity to consent at the time of his MAID procedure. Owen, whose tumour was spreading quickly to his brain, was at high risk of losing capacity.

He spent his final days of life anxious and afraid that he would lose his right to an assisted death, his wife writes.

Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC) is celebrating the return of its charitable status, setting the stage for the organization to become an even stronger defender of Canadians’ end-of-life rights.

DWDC recently learned that the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had approved its application to become a human-rights charity. As a result, DWDC can now issue tax receipts for donations made in support of its activities. The decision is retroactive to January 1, 2018.

Public healthcare facilities that ban assisted-dying services on their premises and force sick and frail patients to go elsewhere to access their right to choice are failing to provide patient-centred care, writes Dr. David Amies.

In Case You Missed It is a round-up of news articles and commentaries featuring Dying With Dignity Canada speakers and stories. Did you miss these stories in October?

Audrey Parker, the Halifax woman who spent the last weeks of her life raising awareness about the challenges facing Canadians who have been assessed and approved for assisted dying, “changed the national conversation” around end-of-life choice, Dying With Dignity Canada says.