Canadaâ??s assisted suicide

CANADA'S Criminal Code now makes it an offense punishable by a jail sentence of up to 14 years to counsel or assist someone to commit suicide, or to agree to be put to death.

With those of the boomer generation inexorably entering their dotage years, and their minds inevitably becoming increasingly fixated on their imminent death, assisted suicide is a matter that pleads for attention now.

An all-party committee of the National Assembly has done the entire country a much-needed service by conducting an in-depth study of medically assisted dying. The committee proposed that the Quebec government refrain from prosecuting doctors who assist patients in dying so long as the proposed procedures are respected.

The Conservative federal government is reluctant to move on this issue, but this is an issue whose time for discussion and resolution is at hand.