Justice Centre launches national campaign to stop ideological overreach in regulated professions

The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces the launch of a national campaign urging all provinces to adopt legislation that restores professional regulators to their proper role of overseeing competence and ethics, rather than compelling speech or imposing political ideology on regulated professionals who serve the public.

Across Canada, professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers, social workers, engineers, dentists, lawyers and many others are governed by regulatory bodies created to uphold technical competence and ethical standards. Instead of focusing on those core responsibilities, however, many regulators have begun embedding political or ideological content into mandatory courses, codes of ethics and continuing education requirements.

At the same time, professionals are increasingly being investigated or disciplined not for misconduct, but for expressing personal views or declining to endorse political positions.

To help Canadians take action, the Justice Centre has created an online tool with a ready-to-send letter that goes directly to the provincial representatives responsible for the relevant legislation. All the user needs to do is select their province and enter their information, and the tool automatically delivers the letter to the appropriate recipient.

The prepared letter outlines three essential legislative amendments:

• prohibiting regulatory bodies from pursuing political objectives;
• prohibiting regulators from monitoring or controlling the speech of their members; and
• prohibiting regulators from embedding political or ideological content into definitions of competence and ethics.

Alberta is the first province to take meaningful steps toward addressing this growing problem. Its proposed legislation, called the Regulated Professions Amendment Act, is designed to prevent regulators from compelling speech, advancing political objectives or embedding ideology into definitions of competence and ethics.

The Justice Centre encourages all Canadians to visit our website today to take action and help protect the independence of regulated professionals.

From LifeSiteNews

By Jonathon Van Maren

It must be said: The media’s relentless glamorization of suicide is repulsive and shameful.

It was once standard press practice to treat suicide as a tragedy. But since assisted suicide and euthanasia are now presented as the final front in the war for total autonomy, “human interest” stories now push the interests of the death lobby and treat suicide as a social good. The message this sends to the suicidal and desperate is clear.

The latest example of this is a December 2 story in Le Journal de Quebec on the assisted suicide of 101-year-old Paulette Fiset-Germain. She died by lethal injection in her room at the Manoir Cap-Santé on December 1. The opening line of the story almost glows with approval:

A centenarian who had lost none of her intellectual capacity is now shining in the sky after choosing medical assistance in dying on Monday.

Fiset-Germain had been living independently and alone only a few weeks ago but suffered two falls and a stroke. Last week, she told the staff and fellow residents that she wanted to die by euthanasia — or what in Canada is called “MAID.”

“I started to have trouble using the walker, I have one hand that I can’t use, the other one that I have trouble with, I can’t see one side anymore,” she said. “I’m at the end. You know when the glass starts to spill, it’s time to do something. In addition, you have trouble 24 hours a day, you don’t sleep. We’re going to close the loop.”

The Journal emphasized that she said this in a “very serene” tone of voice — and made it clear that Fiset-Germain’s family were supportive. “My children accepted my decision because they know me, they know that I am ready for it,” she said. “It started when I broke my hip and couldn’t do anything anymore. My decision doesn’t cause me any stress. I can’t wait. When the doctor agreed, I said, ‘You’re giving me a really nice gift.’”

To be clear: That “gift” is a lethal injection. She chose suicide by doctor — and the media celebrated it. That is nothing short of glamorizing suicide. In fact, the Journal made clear that Fiset-Germain was “grateful for the opportunity (of) medical assistance in dying,” but that she hopes it is expanded. In fact: “The last moments of Mme Fiset-Germain will also be the subject of a documentary.”

So, in addition to the puff pieces about her suicide, we’re going to get death porn propaganda that will be used to push for more suicides, likely (I suspect, although no details are yet available) produced in partnership with the vultures at Dying with Dignity.

“It’s too tight,” the elderly woman explained of Canada’s euthanasia regime, which is so notoriously loose it has been condemned by the United Nations. “We have to expand to relieve many people. There are others who are embarrassed, who are afraid of their children’s reaction. Mine told me, ‘It’s my choice, it’s my body, it’s my life.’” Funny — it seems like whenever someone uses that phrase, somebody is about to get killed.

The Quebec press is not known for its glowing coverage of religious beliefs, but for the suicidal Fiset-Germain, they made an exception. “Since I was little, I believe that when you die you become a star. When you see a shooting star, it’s someone who has left and is looking for a place,” she explained. “I received very good care here and I am very happy to end my days here and die in my bed.”

The article made sure to mention that she will “donate her body to science,” and quoted one of her reminisces of working as a nurse during the war, when she met a badly wounded soldier: “He was 20 years old and had lost both eyes, both arms and both legs. He asked me if he could hear his mother’s voice. I arranged for him to go to his house to hear it. I don’t know what happened to him next, but at that time, you couldn’t ask for medical assistance in dying.”

Her best friend offered her almost-too-enthusiastic support. “It’s a good decision,” her cousin and best friend Louisette Huard said. “After the life she’s had, the physical state she’s in.” I must say that if my best friend thought my suicide was a “good decision,” it would certainly heighten my suicidal ideation, but perhaps that’s just me.

Only the head of Manoir Cap-Santé and another friend were willing to express their grief. “It hurts us, but we respect her decision,” Guylaine Dufresne said. Her friend, Adelyre Goeguen, was blunter: “I didn’t like it right away. It was still a shock, and I don’t accept it at all.”

That, in case you’re wondering, is the correct response to the suicide of a close friend.

Jonathon Van Maren

Jonathon’s writings have been translated into more than six languages and in addition to LifeSiteNews, has been published in the National Post, National Review, First Things, The Federalist, The American Conservative, The Stream, the Jewish Independent, the Hamilton Spectator, Reformed Perspective Magazine, and LifeNews, among others. He is a contributing editor to The European Conservative.