Physicians reject claim that referral for euthanasia is “ultimate compromise”
Force no participants to act against their will, neither doctors nor anyone else.
Introduction (by Project Administrator)
In June, 2014, Quebec passed a law authorizing euthanasia in the province, despite the standing criminal prohibition of the procedure. The province argued that physician-administered euthanasia is a form of health care, and, as such, exempt from the jurisdiction of the federal government in criminal law. The Quebec law came into force in December, 2015, 10 months after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the criminal prohibition of physician assisted suicide and physician administered euthanasia in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General). The Supreme Court had, however, suspended its ruling for one year to give governments a chance to develop legislation, so the criminal law against euthanasia was still officially in force when the provincial law authorizing it came into effect in Quebec.
In response to a lawsuit launched by objecting physicians, an injunction against the law was issued by the Quebec Superior Court on 1 December, 2015, but overruled by the Quebec Court of Appeal three weeks later. The Court of Appeal ruling was based on the fact that the Quebec law was consistent with the Carter decision, though subject to review once the federal government amended the Criminal Code.
Dr. Yves Robert is the Secretary of the Collège des médecins du Québec, the state regulator of medical practice in the province. Three years ago, he appeared before a legislative committee studying the bill that later became the province’s euthanasia law with Dr. Charles Bernard, President of the Collège des médecins. At that time, Dr. Bernard said:
“[I]f you have a conscientious objection and it is you who must undertake to find someone who will do it, at this time, your conscientious objection is [nullified]. It is as if you did it anyway.” | “Parce que, si on a une objection de conscience puis c’est nous qui doive faire la démarche pour trouver la personne qui va le faire, à ce moment-là , notre objection de conscience ne s’applique plus. C’est comme si on le faisait quand meme.[Consultations]
However, in November, 2015, just before the Quebec euthanasia law came into force, Dr. Robert wrote an editorial claiming that forcing objecting physicians to refer for euthanasia is a compromise that reconciles the rights and freedoms of both patients and physicians.
Dr. Robert’s position was rejected in the following strongly worded response from over eighty Quebec physicians, to which others subsequently added their names. The rejection is particularly significant because the President of the Canadian Medical Protective Association recently recommended the Quebec model as an “elegant” solution that reconciles physician freedom of conscience and religion with the legal right of patients to access euthanasia and assisted suicide. Clearly, those most directly affected by the Quebec “solution” do not share that opinion.
PREAMBLE:
The present letter was written in response to Dr. Robert’s editorial, which appeared in Le Collège (November 2015), concerning the objection of conscience of physicians under the Loi concernant les soins de fin de vie [“Law Respecting End-of-life Care”], which came into force on December 10, 2015.
Debated in the Quebec Superior Court following an injunction sought by a coalition of physicians, the decision rendered was based on the doctrine of federal preponderance over provincial law, preventing the articles concerning physician-assisted dying from taking effect as planned due to their incompatibility with the Criminal Code.
The present [French language] letter was written in light of the conclusions of the ruling given by the Quebec Superior Court on December 2, 2015, and is supported by 84 co-signed physicians.
The English version, released on January 20, 2016, is supported by a total of 344 physicians.
Scientific Objection to Dr. Yves Robert’s Editorial
[“Referring the patient’s request to a health care professional who would follow through with it would then seem the ultimate compromise, respecting patient’s and physician’s rights.” \ “La transmission de la demande d’un patient à une autorité du réseau de la santé qui pourra y donner suite apparaît donc comme l’ultime compromis pour respecter les droits du patient et ceux du médecin.” Dr Yves Robert, LE COLLÈGE, 10 novembre 2015]
The above statement that you made as Secretary of the Collège des médecins du Québec is absolutely false.
First, let’s recall this excerpt, from of the Superior Court ruling (par. 97): “The lawyer of the Attorney General of Canada also expressed her concern about article 31 of an Act respecting end-of-life care, obliging physicians who do not want to grant a request for physician-assisted dying, to participate, despite their objection, in the process of finding a willing physician. She sees in this fact itself an indication that even a physician, conscientious objector, would inevitably become involved in a process leading to the commission of a criminal act under the current state of the law”.
This summarizes without ambiguity the thoughts of the Attorney General of Canada and the Quebec Superior Court concerning your “ultimate compromise” on the subject of conscientious objection, also shared by the Collège des médecins du Québec.
This form of collaboration in killing a patient, with all due respect, is not the ultimate compromise. It is an obligation to collaborate — which can be experienced by a physician as complicity in an act he considers to be harmful to his patient, irrelevant whether the act is criminal or not (the crime evoked here only compounds the insult of the obligation).
As for me, I want to continue to offer care to my patient; not sever the relationship. I simply refuse to cause his death. What will you do against my medical judgment?
If you suspend me, you are the one severing the care relationship by depriving a patient of his physician, whereas I am willing to continue caring for him. I do not consider sending my patient to be killed as providing care because… to be killed is not a treatment, neither for me, nor for the overwhelming majority of physicians and medical associations all over the world. This then is a question of medical obligation, because I apply the international norm, while the Collège has decided unilaterally to disagree.
The issue here is much more a question of scientific objection than an objection of conscience because the purpose is to apply the international norms and standards the Collège decided to disagree with.
Given that most physicians will never agree to stop preventing suicide among their patients, we cannot compel them to stop this prevention because their medical judgement and expertise—that they have applied for years—tells them not to do it. Simply put, preventing suicide remains good medicine.
Likewise, a hospital director cannot force me to perform surgery on my patient if my medical opinion tells me the surgery would be harmful. It does not mean that I sever the professional relationship with my patient, only that I exercise my profession with my judgement and my competence, which means to say that I am not a simple technician who will only serve to be “someone else’s hands.”
In the same way, no patient can force me to perform surgery that I consider bad or harmful, and it is understood that the minimum degree of professional consistency would prevent me from referring him to someone who would perform it in my place. I would simply tell him that it is not recommended, and he would be free to go elsewhere. If however, I were to transfer him to a colleague or health care professional knowing that the procedure I consider harmful will be conducted, it would be as though I performed it through the hands of another.
The Collège needs to recognize this logical response from physicians (palliative and other) who do not want to collaborate in paving the way toward the medically assisted death of their patients. These physicians, who are neither fanatical nor arrogant, see this intention of the state (and of the Collège) to impose on them a forced collaboration like an abuse of authority. The use of the term “ultimate compromise,” in this context, sounds a lot like “this is my final offer.” That, would sooner be called an ultimatum—and the Attorney General of Canada did well to note the real intention behind the words.
In conclusion, if the Collège hopes to avoid unjust and unnecessary confrontation with qualified and attentive physicians of integrity, it should find a way not to compel them to assist in the death of their patients against their medical judgement and their professional conscience.
Even if the new exception measures (not to read “rule”) that will soon be established in the Canadian Criminal Code allows for euthanasia or assisted suicide under certain conditions, you must remember that forcing physicians to refer—moreover to threaten them—is a sure-fire way to cause unnecessary and damaging battles for all, to cause division and spoil the collegial environment in our hospitals.
If, one day, euthanasia or assisted suicide are decriminalized, a true compromise—one that would respect everyone’s autonomy—would be something like this: let patients carry out their own wishes by putting a voluntary system in place, forcing no participants to act against their will—neither their doctors nor anyone else involved.
Marc Beauchamp, MD, FRCSC, orthopedic surgeon, Montreal
With the support of the 344 undersigned:
1. Renata Sava, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
2. Louis Morissette, MD, FRCPC., surspécialiste en psychiatrie légale, Montréal
3. Yousri Hanna, MD, chef de l’Unité des Soins Palliatifs de Santa Cabrini, Montréal
4. Yvan Roy, MD, médecin de famille, L’Assomption
5. Bernard H. Doray, MD, pédiatre, Montréal
6. Antonio Tongué, MD, radiologiste, Gatineau
7. Stephen Martin, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
8. François Belzile, M.D, FRCPC, radiologiste, Sherbrooke
9. Roy Eappen, MD, endocrinologue, Montréal
10. Annik Dupras, MD, FRCPC, interniste-gériatre, Terrebonne
11. René Pouliot, MD, néphrologue, Québec
12. Francine Gaba, MD, gériatre, Montréal
13. Jacques R. Rouleau, MD, CSPQ, FRCPC, FACC (Institut universitaire de cardiologie et de pneumologie de Québec, Professeur titulaire de médecine, Université Laval)
14. Roger Roberge, MD, gériatre, Montréal
15. Elisabeth Fuvel-Girodias, MD, Kirkland
16. Louis Béland, MD, chirurgien, Québec
17. Nathalie de Grandpré, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
18. Michelle Bergeron, MD retraitée, Québec
19. Mark Basik MDCM, FRCS(C), chirurgien oncologue, Montréal
20. Guy Bouchard, MD, médecin de famille, Québec
21. Valérie J. Brousseau, BScH, MDCM, FRCSC, oto-rhino-laryngologue, Victoriaville
22. Claude Morin, MD, médecin de famille, Québec
23. Nicholas Newman, MD, FRCSC, chirurgien orthopédiste, Montréal
24. Michel Brouillard, MD, médecin de famille, Rouyn-Noranda
25. Mance Luneau, MD, médecin de famille, Blainville
26. Suzanne Labelle, MD, médecin de famille, Laval
27. Jean-Bernard Girodias, MD, pédiatre, Montréal
28. Juan Francisco Asenjo, MD, anesthésiologiste, Montréal
29. Paul Barré, MD, nephrologue, Montréal
30. Michel Copti, MD, neurologue, Saint-Lambert
31. Liette Pilon, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
32. André Rochon, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
33. Douglass Dalton, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
34. Marie-Chantal Piché, MD, médecin de famille, Vaudreuil-Dorion
35. Odile Michaud, MD, médecin de famille, Otterburn Park
36. Catherine Ferrier, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
37. Michel de Maupeou, MD, médecin de famille, La Sarre
38. Vijayabalan Balasingam, MD, neurochirurgien, Pointe-Claire
39. Pierrette Girard, MD, chirurgienne orthopédiste, Pointe-Claire
40. Jacques Beaudoin, MD, cardiologue, Québec
41. Marc Bergeron, MD, hémato-oncologue, Québec
42. Rosaire Vaillancourt, MD, FRCPC, chirurgien thoracique, Québec
43. Louis Dionne, MD, chirurgien général, Québec
44. Juan Rivera, MD, endocrinologue, Montréal
45. Lyette St-Hilaire, MD, médecin de famille, Laval
46. Matthieu Tittley, MD, FRCPC, psychiatre, Sherbrooke
47. Luc Chaussé, MD, médecin de famille, L’Assomption
48. Gilles Gaudreau MD, médecin de famille, Sorel-Tracy
49. Evelyne Huglo, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
50. Hong Phuc Tran-Le, MD, FCMF, médecin de famille, Val d’Or
51. Laurence Normand-Rivest, MD, médecin de famille, Châteauguay
52. Daniel Boulet, MD, FRCP(C), physiatre, Qu.bec
53. Anne-Louise Boucher, MD, responsable médical GMF du Carmel, Trois-Rivières
54. Mathieu Brouillet, MD, médecin de famille, Rimouski
55. David Bacon, MD, CM, CCFP-EM, médecin de famille, Pointe-Claire
56. Marcel D’Amours, MD, anesthésiologiste, Québec
57. Anne Marie Uhlir, MD, médecin de famille, Sainte-Croix
58. Mélanie Laberge, MD, omnipraticienne, Québec
59. Heather Coombs, MD, urgentologue, Montréal
60. Svetlana Ninkovic, MD, pédiatre, neurologue, Greenfield Park
61. Roland Leclerc, MD, pédiatre, Québec
62. Jean-Pierre Beauchef, MD, endocrinologue, Greenfield Park
63. Serge Daneault, MD, soins palliatifs, Montréal
64. Patricia Marchand, MD, médecin de famille, Trois-Rivières
65. Louis Martel, MD, médecin de famille, Trois-Rivières
66. Daniel Viens, MD, FRCPC, interniste, Drummondville
67. Roseline LeBel, MD, médecin de famille, Laval
68. Sonia Calouche, MD, psychiatre, Saint-Eustache
69. Cecile Hendrickx, MD
70. Marie-France Raynault, MD, santé publique, Montréal
71. Julie Gauthier, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
72. Olivier Yaccarini, MD, médecin de famille, Québec
73. Caroline Girouard, MD, oncologue médicale, Hôpital Sacré-Coeur, Montréal
74. Pierre Duclos, MD, endocrinologue, Québec
75. Normand Lussier, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
76. Paola Diadori, MD, neurologue, Montréal
77. Bruno Gagnon MD, MSc, Soins Palliatifs, Université Laval, Québec
78. Judith Trudeau, MD, rhumatologue, Hôtel-Dieu de Lévis
79. Yves Bacher, MD, gériatre, Montréal
80. Tommy Aumond-Beaupré, MD, médecin de famille, Montréal
81. Joseph Ayoub, MD, oncologie et soins palliatifs, Montréal
82. Xavier Coll, MD, cardiologue, Lachenaie
83. Léonard Langlois, MD, pédiatre, Sherbrooke
84. Anne Larkin, MD, généraliste depuis plus de 36 ans, Waterloo
85. David D’Souza, MD, CCFP, Global Health Fellow, University of Calgary
86. Robert Banner, MD, CCFP, FCFP, FRCP, IFMCP, Dip AAPM, Dip CAPM, ABIHM, COT, CPT, Diploma in Clinical Homeopathy, London, Ontario
87. Aletta G. Bell, MD, Family Medicine
88. Valérie Marion, MD
89. David Dawson MDCM, FRCPC
90. Rodney A. Crutcher MD MMedEd CCFP(EM) FCFP, Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine, University of Calgary
91. Robert Kidd MD,CM, Renew, Ontario
92. George B Miller, MD, Waterloo, Ontario
93. Bruce Hiller, Burnaby British Columbia
94. Karen Mason, MD, Langley, BC
95. Christopher J. Ryan, MD, BSc, Vancouver
96. Maebh Tynan, MD, Millway Medical, Mississauga, ON
97. Randall Friesen, MD, Prince Albert, SK
98. Donato Gugliotta MD, Trenton, Ontario
99. Cheryl Corkum, BN, MD, CCFP
100. Bruce Gay MD, FRCSC
101. George Abraham, MD, Welland, ON
102. Donna M. Klay, MD
103. Robert Frazer, MD
104. Timothy Ehmann, MD FRCPC
105. Jeff Kornelsen MD CCFP Inc., Abbotsford & Mission, British Columbia BC
106. Stan George, MD, FRCSC
107. Gregory S. Raymond, MD, FRCP(C), St. Albert, Alberta
108. Richard Welsh, MD, FCFP
109. John D Potts, B. Sc., M. D., D. T. M. & H., Ladysmith BC
110. Merville O. Vincent, B.A., M.D., FRCPC, DABIM
111. Warren Terry MD, MEd, FRCSC
112. Bing Guthrie, Yellowknife, MD, NT
113. R. Alan Meakes, CD, MD, FRCPC, Anaesthesia, Internal Medicine, Critical Care, Victoria, BC
114. Warren Molberg MD, CCFP(EM)
115. Owen Heisler MD, FRCSC
116. Muriel Henderson, MD
117. Marjorie D.C.Fish, M.D. (retired)
118. Regina Becker MD, FCFP
119. Mark Epp, MD, PGY-2 Pediatrics, University of Saskatchewan
120. Julia Bright, MD, Chilliwack BC
121. Peter Daley, MD, MSc FRCPC DTM+H, Assistant Professor, Disciplines of Medicine and Laboratory Medicine, Memorial University, Division Chief, Microbiology, Health Sciences Center, St. John’s, Newfoundland
122. John W McCormick MD, Toronto
123. Peter L Munk MDCM, FRCPC, FSIR, Editor in Chief, Canadian Association of Radiologists Journal, Professor of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Skeletal Imaging Section Head, Vancouver General Hospital
124. John Gordon Murray Robertson B.Sc. MD. CCFP, FRCS(C) OBGYN
125. Ronald E. Hiller M.D. – retired Family Practioner
126. John McLeod, MD, Hospitalist, Burnaby, British Columbia
127. Kimberly Elford, MD – Obs/Gyne and reproductive medicine
128. Charis Kolari, MD, Sudbury ON
129. Diane Haak, MD, CCFP, President of the Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada
130. Frank Duerksen, M.D FRCSC, Winnipeg, MB
131. Catherine McCallum, MD, College registration #s BC- 02197, Ontario -29139
132. Rebecca Bobby, MD, emergency physician, St. John’s
133. Helena Ho, MD, CM, FRCPC
134. Dale Hoffman, MD, Delta, BC
135. Eleanor Foster, MD CCFP (PC)
136. Ricardo A. Cartagena, MD, FRCPC
137. Joyce Choi, MD, CCFP
138. Kevin Sclater, MD, CCFP (CAC-PM), Port Coquitlam, B.C.
139. W. Joseph Askin, MD, FCFP, Calgary, AB
140. James MacMillan, MD, CCFP, Rosthern, SK
141. Richard R.J. Smyth, MBBS, FRCS, FRCS(C), Adjunct Professor in Faculty of Science, Thompson Rivers University, Clinical Instructor in Otolaryngology, University of British Columbia, Director, Sleep Surgery Centre
142. Alison Froese, MD, FRCPC
143. James R. Lewis, MD, FRCSC
144. Eric Prost, MD, FRCPC, Psychiatrist, Kingston, ON
145. Thomas Geoffrey Protheroe, MD
146. Wes Reimer, MD, FCFP, Hospitalist
147. Dave S. Lounsbury, MSc MD CCFP
148. Timothy J. Kelton BSc MD CCFP(E.M.) FCFP, Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
149. Dr. Jillian Lusina, MD, Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
150. James Yeung, MD, Rheumatologist, Richmond, BC
151. Mark B Hildebrand, MD, CPSO
152. James C. Kennedy, MD, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Department of Oncology, Queen’s University, Kingston Ontario
153. Gisela Macphail, MD, MPH, FRCPC, Specialist, Infectious Diseases
154. Richard Haber, MD, paediatrician
155. Bruce Snyder, MD, CPSO, Cambridge, Ontario
156. Tiffaney Kittmer, MD, FRCSC, General Surgeon
157. Ray Miksa, MD, CCFP, Family Medicine, Calgary, AB
158. Harwood L. Reimer, MD, Duncan, BC
159. Donald G. Street, , MD Family Physician, One Hundred Mile House, BC
160. Bryan Dias, MD, Cardiologist, University Hospital, London Ontario
161. Paul Yong, MD, FRCSC, Vancouver
162. Ray Butler, MD, Sussex, NB
163. George K. Dresser, MD, PhD, FRCP(C), Associate Professor, Clinical Pharmacology & Internal Medicine, University of Western Ontario
164. Dr. Chris Newcombe, MD, CCFP (EM)
165. Garnet Leslie Eggert Ullyot, MD, retired family doctor
166. Donald Stephens, MD
167. Thomas Choy, M.D. F.R.C.P.C.
168. Geoffrey Purdell-Lewis, MB BS, FRCPC. Dundas, Ontario.
169. Karma Murphy, MD, family physician, Yarmouth, NS
170. Mark I. Boulos, BSc MD FRCP(C) CSCN(EEG) MSc, Staff Neurologist (Stroke & Sleep), Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
171. John Galbraith MD FRCP(C), Medical Microbiologist and Infectious Diseases Specialist, Victoria, BC
172. Robert Hauptman BMSc, MD, MCFP, Assistant Clinical Professor U of A, Pain Consultant, Family Physician
173. Dr Jack Bromley MD, CCFP
174. Ormond Uptigrove, MD, ret.
175. C. Rachelle Zimmer, MD, FRCPC
176. Joy Wong-Ting, MD, MBBS, FAAP
177. Robert Porter MD, MSc, CCFP (EM)
178. Dr Michael Bentley-Taylor, MD, Cardiologist
179. Peter Kopplin MD, Toronto
180. James Wheeler, MD, Chatham, Ontario
181. Paul R Forrest MD FRCP, Abbotsford BC
182. Sheila Rutledge Harding, MD, FRCPC, Hematologist, Saskatoon, SK
183. Jennifer Y. Tong, MD, CCFP, Family Medicine, Vancouver, BC
184. Nancy Craig MD CM CCFP Edmonton, Alberta
185. Bao Dang, MD, FRCPC Internal Medicine & Respirology
186. Wolfgang E.Schneider MD, FCFP, FCBOM
187. Nicole Allard, MD, omnipraticienne Amos
188. Lynn Kealey, MD, psychiatrist, Ottawa
189. Kami Kandola, MD, médecin de famille, T.N.O
190. Janina Zaremba, MD, médecin de famille, Ottawa
191. André Corriveau, MD, FRCPC, Yellowknife
192. Elizabeth M. Phillips MD, Family Medicine Sussex NB
193. Brian C.M. Phillips, MD FRCP Surg. Sussex NB
194. Dr Darrel Eliason, MD, General Practice, Calgary
195. Philip Fitzpatrick, MD, Emergency Physician, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
196. Luke Savage, MD, CCFP, Three Hills, Alberta
197. Joseph Phillips, MD, PGY2, Family Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax
198. Anthony Kerigan, MD Hamilton ON
199. Raymond Viola, MD, MSc, CCFP, FCFP,Palliative Care, Kingston, Ontario
200. Leah V. Seaman, MD, BSR, MD, CCFP, Full-service rural physician in the NWT
201. M. Jane Pritchard MD, Toronto
202. Cameron W. Pierce, MD, FRCPC, Internal Medicine, Respirology, Vancouver
203. Maria L Zorzitto, MD, FRCP(C) Ontario
204. Lawrence F. Jardine, MD, Pediatric Hematologist, Western University, London , Ontario
205. François Primeau, MD, membre fondateur, surspecialité de gérontopsychiatrie, Lévis
206. Paul J. Ranalli, MD FRCPC Neurology, Toronto
207. Margaret Foote, MD, FAAFP, family medicine, Ontario
208. Matthew J. McQueen, MD, MB ChB, PhD., FRCPC, hon FRCPath., Professor Emeritus, McMaster University,
209. Rory Fisher, MD, O. Ont, MB, FRCP(Ed)( C)
210. Mary O’Connor, MD, General Practice, Ottawa Ontario
211. Keith Meloff, MD, FRCPC Neurologist
212. Thomas Bouchard, MD, Family Medicine Physician, Calgary, Alberta
213. Robert M. Boyko, MD, CCFP(EM), FCFP, Family Physician, MISSISSAUGA, ON
214. Michael Fielden, MD, Ophthalmologist, Calgary
215. Sephora Tang, MD, FRCPC, Psychiatrist, Ottawa
216. Howard Bright MD, Chilliwack, B.C.
217. Chantal Barry, MD Family Medicine Calgary AB
218. Natalia Pastuszewska, MD, internist Brantford Ont
219. Elizabeth Tham, MD, CCFP, FCFP, Lecturer, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
220. Ralph Scandiffio, MD, CCFP (Retired)
221. Sherry Chan, MD, CCFP, GP Oncologist and Family Physician, Vancouver
222. Andrew S. Johnson MD, FRCPC, Adult Infectious Diseases, Program Director, Adult Infectious Disease Residency Training Program, Clinical Assistant Professor, University of Calgary, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Foothillls Medical Centre
223. William L. Orovan, MD, MBA, FRCSC, FACS, Associate Dean, Clinical Services, Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University
224. Andrea Loewen, MD, FRCPC, Diplomate ABIM Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, University of Calgary
225. Jacqueline Chow, MD, Family medicine, Toronto
226. Margaret Cottle, MD, CCFP (CAC-palliative care); Palliative Care, Vancouver, BC
227. Linda Baker M.D., Family Physician(retired), Rosthern, SK
228. M. Pavlovsky, MD, Regina, SK
229. Peter J. Block, MD, FRCSC
230. Daniel Cekan, MD, CCFP, ABFM
231. Jeffrey Betcher MD FRCPC MA (Bioethics), Anesthesiology and Critical Care
232. David Kopriva MDCM, FRCS(C), Vascular Surgeon, Regina, Saskatchewan
233. G. V. Walker, MD, Saskatoon (palliative care)
234. Ferretti Emanuela MD, FRCPC, neonatologist, Ottawa
235. Jonathan S. Ponesse MD FRCPC, Developmental Pediatric Neurologist, Division of Developmental Pediatrics, Ottawa Children’s Treatment Centre, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Ottawa
236. Douglas Maynes MD FRCPC, Psychiatrist Halifax NS
237. Ray Deobald MD FRCSC, Surgical Oncology, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan
238. C. Stuart Houston, OC, SOM, DLitt, MD, FRCPC family practitioner 8 years, then radiologist 32 years, now retired 20 years at the end of January 2016, Five years editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Canadian Association of Radiologists, Five years head of Medical Imaging, University of Saskatchewan, Six years served on Council of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
239. Lisa McFarlane, MD, CCFP
240. Rudy W Hamm, MD, Kelowna, B.C.
241. Ivan Jagas, MD, Kitchener Ontario
242. Edward Rzadki, M.D., FRCP(C), Etobicoke Psychiatric Consultants, Toronto
243. Martin Owen MD CCFP, President Calgary Catholic medical association, Family physician
244. Rebecca Epp, MD, Family Practice, Meadow Lake, SK
245. Ken Kontio, MD, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Ottawa, Canada
246. Mark J. Jany, Respiratory Medicine, St. Catharines, ON
247. John McWhae MD, FRCSC
248. Jean Chamberlain CM MD MEd FRCSC , Member—Order of Canada Executive Director — Save the Mothers, Associate Professor —McMaster University (Ob/Gyn)
249. John Renouf, MD Emergency Melfort Sk
250. Timothy S Darnell, MD, Lacombe, AB
251. Ewan C. Goligher MD FRCPC, Critical Care Medicine, Mount Sinai Hospital, PhD student, Department of Physiology, University of Toronto
252. Wayne Weston MD, CCFP, FCFP, Emeritus Professor of Family Medicine, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University
253. Amy Hendricks, MD, Médecine interne, Yellowknife
254. John Reesor, MD
255. Thomas Barry MD
256. Robert Ting, MD
257. Lizabeth Brydon, MD
258. Tanya Rodgerson, MD
259. Mark Chandra, MD
260. Kathryn Sullivan, MD
261. Shannon Rabuka, MD
262. James Lane Coquitlam ,BC
263. Michelle Korvemaker, Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
264. Chaim Goldberg, MD
265. Donald Greve, MD, SK
266. Will Johnston, MD, Vancouver
267. John Gay, MD
268. Deborah Dudgeon, MD
269. Edmond Kyrillos, MD
270. Mark Leakos, MD
271. Rene Leiva, MD
272. Tim Cuddy, MD, Burlington ON
273. Carlos Miura, MD
274. Lauren Mai, MD
275. Donna Shaddick, MD
276. Terence Da Silva, MD
277. Barbara Powell, MD
278. Alice Westlake, MD
279. Jake Raguz, MD
280. Nisha Fernandes, MD
281. Ellis Scott, MD
282. Sze Wan Sit, MD
283. Andrew Taylor, MD
284. Timothy Heerema, MD
285. Garvin Pierce, MD
286. Lester Liao, MD
287. Chris Ekong, MD
288. Dr Paul Galassiere, MD
289. Valerie Hindle, MD
290. Karen Macdonald, MD
291. Joel Emery, MD
292. Muriel Beatty, MD
293. David Hook, MD
294. James Holmlund, MD
295. Eileen Cochien, MD
296. Garnet Leslie Eggert Ullyot, MD, retired family doctor
297. Juliette Eberhard, MD
298. Christy Reich, MD
299. Steve Russell , MD
300. Lew Valliant, MD
301. Sherri Renwick, MD
302. G. Ivan Stewart, MD
303. Ilo De Porres, MD
304. Lydia Cheung, MD
305. John Kraulis, MD
306. Myra Butler, MD
307. Shawn Verity, MD
308. Venetia S.J. Mah, MD
309. Althea Burrell, MD, Respirology, Markham Ontario
310. Cornelia Mielke, MD
311. Benjamin Love, MD
312. Betty-Anne Story, MD
313. Helen Montgomery, MD
314. John Alexander Watt, MD, Psychiatry
315. Don Munnings
316. Len Prins, MD
317. Steven Bredenoord, MD
318. Raymond Penner, MD
319. Andrea Milne-Epp, MD
320. Paul McArthur, MD, Walkerton, ON
321. Susan McArthur, MD, Walkerton, ON
322. Duncan Etches, MD
323. David Neima, MD
324. Philip Hui, MD
325. Piotr Koziarz, MD
326. Catherine Elizabeth McNally, MD
327. Larry Taranger, MD
328. Paul Galessiere, MD, FRCSC, General, laparoscopic, and gynecological surgeon
329. Alana Cormier, MD
330. Cindy Lou, MD
331. Larry Ness, MD
332. Brent Lanting, MD
333. Isabel Sarides, MD
334. Costa Sarides, MD
335. RJ Buhr, MD
336. Emily Pranger
337. Dauna Cutforth, MD
338. Peter Hong, MD
339. Marie Dale, MD
340. Kristy Green, MD
341. Maria MacDonald, MD, FRCPC, Neurologist in Oncology, London, Ontario
342. AJ Donauer, MD, candidate, class of 2018
343. Caleb De Putter, MD, candidate, May 2016
344. Naomi Kasteel, third year medical student, UBC
Following a strong statement from the Catholic Bishops of Alberta that Catholic health care facilities will not provide euthanasia or assisted suicide, a columnist at the Edmonton Journal has accused them of defying the Supreme Court of Canada, breaking the law, and denying patients their “legal rights”.
