Cloverdale-Langley City Conservative MP Tamara Jansen and several of her Conservative colleagues are weighing in on the Delta Hospice Society feud with Fraser Health over Medical Assistance in Dying.
In a letter this week to B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix the MPs said the health region should not threaten to cancel its funding and terminate its lease with the society for not providing MAiD at the Irene Thomas Hospice in Ladner.
“If the FHA terminates its funding contract or cancels its lease with DHS, then the ten palliative care beds available at the ITH will be in jeopardy. These options are on the table as pressure is mounting from FHA for the on-site provision of MAiD to be implemented at the ITH,” they stated.
“This course of action is uncalled for and unnecessary. The public impression is that the FHA is using vulnerable persons as political bargaining chips. Refusing to offer a dying patient access to an available palliative care bed is unethical and inhumane.”
The letter, which was also signed by MPs Arnold Viersen, Garnett Genius, Cathay Wagantall, Rosemarie Falk, Dane Lloyd, Rachael Harder and Jeremy Patzer, went on to note that a joint submission from the Canadian Hospice and Palliative Care Association and the Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians described MAiD and palliative care as fundamentally separate practices, distinct legally and philosophically.
In a statement Jansen said she is disappointed the government is threatening to shut down hospice unless medical staff are willing to betray personal beliefs and participate in the taking of patient lives through MAiD.
“I recognize that this is a complex issue, and I respect everyone’s right to hold different views. That’s why I’m joining with fellow MPs to call upon Health Minister Adrian Dix and Fraser Health to respect the right of medical professionals to exercise their freedom of conscience.”
Last month when asked about the new DHS society board reversing a previous board decision to allow MAiD, Dix told reporters medically assisted deaths have been legal in Canada since 2016.
Dix, saying the procedure is available under the strictest of conditions and is a matter of personal choice, pointed out “almost all” of Delta Hospice's costs are paid for by Fraser Health and the general public.
Dix said his first obligation is to the patients, adding, “Delta Hospice can decide it doesn't want to continue to receive support from the Fraser Health Authority in its mission. They can choose to do that. But you can absolutely have it your way. But, of course, you can't have it both ways.”
