Support the Standard

We need your support to bring the Standard to the attention of Parliamentarians.

The Vulnerable Persons Standard contains a series of safeguards that will help to ensure that Canadians requesting assistance from physicians to end their life can do so without jeopardizing the lives of vulnerable persons who may be subject to coercion and abuse. We are calling on all members of Parliament to ensure that federal legislation regulating physician-assisted death incorporate these safeguards.

 

Advisors to the Vulnerable Persons Standard

The following Advisors to the Vulnerable Persons Standard have contributed their invaluable insights and expertise to this initiative, either through active participation in authorship and review, or through thoughtful endorsement of the Standard and its safeguards framework. 

Although some of these individuals have ethical and moral objections to euthanasia and assisted suicide, they support the Standard in order to limit the harms and risks that these practices present, especially to vulnerable people.   

Affiliations are indicated for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent organizational endorsement. 

Lana Kerzner, LLB
Barrister and Solicitor, Toronto
Lecturer in Disability and Law, School of Disability Studies, Ryerson University

Robert Lattanzio, LLB BCL   
Executive Director, ARCH Disability Law Centre

Trudo Lemmens (LicJur, LLM bioethics, DCL)
Professor and Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto

Dr. Renata Leong, MD.,cM, MHSc, CCFP, FCFP
Staff Physician, Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital
Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto

Dr. Constant H. Leung, MD, CCFP, FCFP
Family Physician, Collingwood Medical Clinic, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Wi-Guan Lim, MD
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC

Brian L. Mishara, Ph.D
Directeur, Centre de recherche et d'intervention sur le suicide et l'euthanasie
Professeur, Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal

Dr. Balfour M. Mount, OC, OQ, MD, FRCS(C), LLD
Professor and Emeritus Flanders Chair of Palliative Medicine, McGill University

Wendall Nicholas
Chair, Wabanaki Council on Disability

Dianne Pothier
Professor Emeritus, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Michael J. Prince, PhD
Landsdowne Professor of Social Policy, University of Victoria

Dean Richert, LLB
Barrister and Solicitor
Co-Chair, End of Life Ethics Committee, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Associate, Duboff Edwards Haight & Schachter Law Corporation Member

Mary Shariff, BSc, LLB, LLM, PhD
Associate Dean Academic, JD Program, University of Manitoba
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba

Margaret Somerville AM, FRSC, DCL
Professor and Founding Director, Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law
Samuel Gale Chair in Law, McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law,

C. Tess Sheldon, MSc, JD, LLM, PhD
Staff Lawyer, ARCH Disability Law Centre
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Contract lecturer, Faculty of Law, Lakehead University

Timothy Stainton, BSW, MSW, PhD
Director and Professor, School of Social Work, University of British Columbia
Director of the Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship, UBC

Dr. William F. Sullivan, MD, CCFP, PhD, FCFP.
Family Physician, St. Michael's Hospital and Surrey Place Centre, Toronto
Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto

Donna Thompson
Disability and family caregiving activist, consultant and author
Board member, NeuroDevNet, a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence
Consultant to Saint Elizabeth Health Care, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario

Dr. Jennifer Y. Tong, MD, CCFP
Family Physician,Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Dr. David Unger, MSc, MD, CCFP, FCFP
Physician and Ethicist
Director of Ethics, Providence Health Care, Vancouver

Dr. Eric Wasylenko, MD, BSc, MHSc (Bioethics)
Clinical Lecturer, John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, University of Alberta

Rhonda Wiebe
Co-Chair, End of Life Ethics Committee, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Member, Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities

 

 

 

 

Michael Bach, PhD
Executive Vice President, Canadian Association for Community Living
Managing Director, IRIS–Institute for Research & Development on Inclusion and Society
Adjunct Professor, Disability Studies, Ryerson University

David Baker, LLB
Barrister and Solicitor, Bakerlaw

Dr. Althea Burrell, BASc, MD, FRCP(C)
Staff Respirologist, Markham Stouffville Hospital

Dr. Sharon Chapman, MBBCh, CCFP
Family Medicine; Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
Hospice-Based Palliative Care Physician, St. Michael's Hospice, Burnaby, BC

Dr. Sherry Chan, MD, CCFP
General Practitioner in Oncology, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Luke Chen, MD, FRCPC, MMEd
Residency Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology, Vancouver General Hospital and University of British Columbia
Hematologist, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov, OC, OM, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FRSC
Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba
Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care
Director, Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit, CancerCare Manitoba
Chair, Canadian Virtual Hospice

Dr. Joyce Choi, MD, CCFP
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
Staff Physician, Short Term Assessment & Treatment Centre, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Margaret Cottle, MD, CCFP (Palliative Care)
Palliative Care Physician, Burnaby Palliative Care Program, Fraser Health Authority, Burnaby, BC and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Jim Derksen, LLD. (Hon.)
Senior Advisor, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Special Advisor – Vulnerable Persons and End of Life Care Initiative (Completed)
Premier's Advisory Council on Education, Poverty and Citizenship in Manitoba

Dr. Ed Dubland, MD, AAHPMc, MCFP (Palliative Care)
Family Physician, Collingwood Medical Clinic, Vancouver, BC
Palliative Medicine, Medical Coordinator, Burnaby Palliative Care Program, Fraser Health Authority, Burnaby, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Al Etmanski, OC
Co-Founder of PLAN – Planned Lifetime Advocacy Networks
Co-founder of Social innovation Generation (SiG) and BC Partners for Social Impact

Dr. Catherine Ferrier MD, CCFP, FCFP,
Division of Geriatric Medicine, McGill University Health Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University

Catherine Frazee, OC, D.Litt., LLD. (Hon.)
Professor Emerita, Ryerson University School of Disability Studies

Dr. Rose Geist
Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Mental Health Systems, Trillium Health Centre
Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Child and Adolescent Division), University of Toronto

Dr. Peter D. Golin, MD
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Philip J. Hanam, MD, CCFP
Family Medicine
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Stephen W. Hwang, MD, MPH, FRCPC
Professor of Medicine and Director, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Toronto
Director, Centre for Research on Inner City Health, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto
Chair in Homelessness, Housing and Health, and Staff Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto

Dr. Will Johnston, MD, MCFP
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC

Dr. Nuala Kenny, OC, MD, FRCP(C)
Professor Emeritus, Dalhousie University and Former Member, Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying


Organizations Supporting the Standard

We are grateful to acknowledge the strong support of community and health organizations across Canada. If you would like to add your organization to the gallery below, please contact info@vps-npv.ca


ARCH Disability Law Centre

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Canadian Association for Community Living

Canadian Association of the Deaf

Canadian Council of Imams

Catholic Health Alliance of Canada

Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians

Christian Legal Fellowship

Community Living Ontario

Council of Canadians with Disabilities

DAWN-RAFH Canada – Disabled Women’s Network of Canada

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

New Brunswick Association for Community Living

Nova Scotia Association for Community Living

 


L'Arche Canada

Vivre dans la Dignité/Living with Dignity

National Education Association of Disabled Students

People First of Canada

PLAN – Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network

Physicians Alliance against Euthanasia

Inclusion British Columbia

Inclusion Alberta

Saskatchewan Association for Community Living

Yukon Association for Community Living

Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Community Living

Community Living Manitoba

Community Living North Bay

Prince Edward Island Association for Community Living



Support the Standard

Show your support for the Standard by adding your name to our list of Canadians who are calling on Parliamentarians to ensure that federal policies for permitting physician-assisted death under the Criminal Code incorporate the VPS safeguards.

Share the Standard

Use our ready-made messages to share the Standard by email and through your social networks. By promoting the Standard you can help to ensure that that federal legislation regulating physician-assisted death incorporates the VPS safeguards.

Post this message on Facebook: "The Vulnerable Persons Standard will help ensure that Canadians requesting assistance from physicians to end their life can do so without jeopardizing the lives of those who are susceptible to abuse and coercion."

Email the VPS website to a friend: "I wanted to share with you the Vulnerable Persons Standard — a set of evidence-based safeguards that will help to ensure that Canadians requesting assistance from physicians to end their life can do so without jeopardizing the lives of vulnerable persons who may be subject to coercion and abuse. You can download the Standard and learn more at www.vps-npv.ca"

Tweet this message: "The Vulnerable Persons Standard provides safeguards for Canadians who are susceptible to abuse and coercion... www.vps-npv.ca"