As I sift through all the rancour in the debate over whether Delta Hospice should provide medically assisted deaths, I find myself boiling the divisive issue down to one rather simple question: Who does the hospice belong to?
I pose that query because I believe the answer to it should go a long way to determining how this dispute ultimately plays out, but before we get there, let’s step back for a moment and take stock of the situation.
I think it’s safe to say that most people in this country back the idea of assisted deaths. A Leger poll of more than 1,500 Canadians earlier this month found 86 per cent supported the notion that someone with an incurable disease should be able to obtain medical assistance in dying. I haven’t seen any polling to back up this next point, but I think most people view hospice as a place to die and that MAiD is a compassionate way of getting there, so it would make sense for one to be offered at the other. Perhaps I’m adding two and two here, but I think most people would get four.
On the flip side, federal law says there must be reasonable access to MAiD, but does not compel hospices to provide it, so Delta Hospice’s stance is lawful. It’s a policy of Fraser Health, which provides significant dollars to hospice operations, that stipulates MAiD be offered. I should also note that leadership at Delta Hospice isn’t necessarily opposed to MAiD, but rather believes it’s not compatible with palliative care provided at the Irene Thomas Hospice.
So, while hospice leadership is on firm ground legally and entitled to its own beliefs, it’s not necessarily in step with the public, which is where I see this train going off the rails. The $8 million capital campaign that built the hospice and adjacent care centre a decade ago was a community-wide effort, yet many members of that same community now feel left out.
I recognize that hospice directors were lawfully elected at the recent AGM but it appears that although they’re representative of those society members who cast votes last fall, they don’t speak for the majority of Delta residents.
So who owns Delta Hospice? Is it the members or those in the wider community? Answer that and you’ve got your MAiD decision.
