By Deborah Gyapong
Canadian Catholic News

OTTAWA (CCN) -- Days before a controversial assisted-suicide trial begins in Quebec, a new poll reveals Canadians are evenly divided over euthanasia vs. palliative care.

A new Environics poll shows that 44 per cent of Canadians would choose palliative care as an end of life option, while 44 per cent would choose euthanasia. Six per cent answered "it depends," and four per cent offered no opinion.

The poll question, commissioned by educational pro-life organization LifeCanada, defined euthanasia as the intentional ending of another person's life.

LifeCanada executive director Gudrun Schultz described the poll results as "alarming."

"People are not clear on what euthanasia means," Schultz said.

Nor are people aware of the inevitable consequences of allowing euthanasia and assisted-suicide and their effects on vulnerable people -- the aged, the sick and the disabled, she said.

When euthanasia becomes a legal option it is "very hard to control it," she said.

She stressed the need for greater education about euthanasia and palliative care, to show that palliative care can manage pain.

"A lot of health care workers aren't aware of the advances in palliative care," she said.

But work needs to be done to make sure palliative care is available in our health care system, she said, in addition to education to show that "euthanasia is not the solution."

Within days of the poll release, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition executive director Alex Schadenberg put out an alert concerning the trial of a man who is accused of helping his uncle hang himself.

According to news reports, the uncle had polio, was confined to a wheelchair, had made previous suicide attempts and repeatedly asked for help in dying. The trial began November 25 in Alma, in northeastern Quebec.

Schadenberg also raised concern that Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde is expected to re-introduce her assisted-suicide bill.

The Environics poll showed support for euthanasia is highest in Quebec at 49 per cent; while support for palliative care is lowest at 36 per cent.

"There's a serious concern because people don't understand how euthanasia and assisted- suicide affect the relationship with the physicians who then have the power to be involved in the taking of life," Schadenberg said. "We're not talking about suicide; we're talking about somebody else taking their life."

The poll shows that 51 per cent of older Canadians would choose palliative care, while 36 per cent would choose euthanasia.

Schultz said it is interesting that those closer to death are more likely to want palliative care.

Schadenberg pointed out that in jurisdictions where euthanasia is legal -- Netherlands, Belgium and Oregon -- "very few people choose euthanasia or an assisted death."

"Just because people say they would choose it, when they are in that situation, very few people actually ask for it," he said.

This is the first time that LifeCanada has included a euthanasia question in its annual poll on abortion.

The poll showed that those who support human life from conception are far more likely to support palliative care (59 per cent). Support for palliative care drops to 39 per cent among those who think the unborn should be protected at three months; and 32 per cent among those who thinks protection should kick in at six months.

Support for euthanasia is highest (50 per cent) among those who think legal protection for human life should begin at birth.

On abortion the poll shows that six out of ten Canadians want some restrictions on abortion, results that have remained in the same range in similar polls over 40 years, Schultz said.

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Thirty-three per cent of Canadians support leaving the unborn child with no legal protection until birth. Thirty-three per cent of women support protection from conception, while 24 per cent of men do.

The poll showed 65 per cent support informed consent requirements; and only three in ten support the present system of tax-funded abortions.

Half of Canadians think abortions should only be funded in medical emergencies; while two in ten think abortion is a private responsibility.

The survey did not include a question on unborn victims of crime this year. Last year the poll showed an overwhelming majority of Canadians support protection for unborn crime victims.

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Assisted suicide takes centre stage in Quebec
The controversial issue of assisted suicide will take centre stage in a courtroom in northeastern Quebec this week when a man charged with helping his severely ill uncle kill himself faces trial. Stephan Dufour, 30, is charged with one count of aiding or abetting his uncle, Chantal Maltais, to commit suicide in September 2006 after the latter had badgered his family for years, confined to a wheelchair and suffering from polio.
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Abortion debate flares on Calgary campus
An anti-abortion student group at the University of Calgary said it will set up a display today that shows a picture of a bloodied fetus alongside an image of Jewish Holocaust victims despite being threatened with arrest, suspension and possible expulsion. The university has told Campus Pro Life it can set up its booth but the pictures must be turned inward so they can be seen only by those who deliberately approach the display.
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University of Calgary singles out abortion for censorship
Some might see the request from the university as utterly reasonable. But an advising lawyer for the students, John Carpay, executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation in Calgary, believes this is just as much as an affront to free speech as an outright ban.
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November 27/2008