The Catholic Organization for Life and Family (COLF) held its seventh Seminar on Bioethics, in Ottawa, on March 23 and 24, 2006. For the second time in the past several years, bishops, physicians, lawyers, ethicists, theologians and historians were invited by COLF to discuss end-of-life issues.

After reviewing the actual situation regarding euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada and in other countries, the 35 participants heard presentations by experts in the field and were able to exchange thoughts and ideas in workshop discussions.  

Undertaking the question of palliative care, Dr. Joseph Ayoub, oncologist at Notre-Dame Hospital of the University of Montreal Hospital Centre, highlighted the hope patients have when facing extreme physical and existential distress. According to him, the goal of palliative care is to offer medical care by a multidisciplinary team and to surround terminal patients with human warmth. The doctor affirms that at the center of the philosophy, that underlies this movement, is attentive listening and a respect that testifies to the patients’ dignity at a time when they are perceived as a burden. “The voice of palliative care represents in our modern society one of the best ways to express compassion toward patients at the end of their life”, he added.

For her part, Dr. Suzanne Philips-Nootens, vice-president of research and higher studies and director of the Program on Law and Politics of Health at the University of Sherbrooke, supported the view that dignity cannot be reduced to the exercise of autonomy, as important as it may be. Otherwise, what becomes of the dying patient, the unconscious patient, the person who is mentally disabled? “It is necessary for us to be constantly visible in this crucial debate and to fight relentlessly against the desire for easy solutions and simplistic speeches”, she declared.