Physician-assisted death is no topic of light-hearted discussion for the dinner table.
But it is nevertheless an important national discussion that deserves level-headed consideration and a final decision based on facts and empirical evidence ó not people's feelings on the matter.
First and foremost, the government does not want to needlessly enable or facilitate the end of someone's life.
In 2009, the most recent figures posted on Statistics Canada's website, close to 4,000 Canadians ó or a rate of 11.5 per 100,000 people ó committed suicide. The Canadian Armed Forces have lost more soldiers to suicide than were killed in action in Afghanistan.
In each case, there were no doubt family and friends left behind with a large hole in their lives accompanied by the nagging doubt that perhaps they might have done something ó anything ó to help change their loved one's mind.
Knowing the terrible impact suicide has on society makes legislating physician-assisted death a tricky labyrinth to navigate.
However, if we truly want to consider ourselves humane, what sense does it make to force a person to continue to endure intolerable suffering from a terminal disease that will cause his or her mind and body to deteriorate daily?
If such a patient is willing to bear through the impending suffering in the unlikely hopes of recovery, that should certainly be within his or her rights. But if a person feels he or she would rather avoid the inevitability of slowly suffering towards an inescapable and painful end, that should be that individual's right to decide.
The crucial factor in all this is collaboration with medical professionals.
If a patient or family has sought the advice of multiple doctors and the consensus is clear that a slow, constant, irreversible degradation of life to the point of sustained suffering is the only possibility, physician-assisted death should at the very least be an option.
The Liberal government has taken careful steps towards crafting a bill that outlines details for Canadians who want to end their lives with the help of a physician, while highlighting the need to protect the vulnerable.
However, a physician-assisted death would have strict conditions, which critics say will cause people to suffer needlessly if the bill becomes law.
It would only apply to mentally competent Canadians over the age of 18 with a serious and incurable illness who are in an "advanced state of irreversible decline in capacity" and thus endure unbearable suffering as a result. A patient would also only be eligible if the inevitability of death became the most likely outcome of his or her condition.
Two witnesses with no financial interest in the case would have to sign the request, and two doctors or nurse practitioners would additionally have to evaluate it. There would also be a 15-day reflection period and final consent just prior to the procedure.
But the government did not include recommendations from a joint parliamentary committee, including the suggestion to grant advanced consent for patients with degenerative conditions like dementia.
So while it's encouraging to see the government take steps towards a solution on such a controversial issue, there remains a lot of work to be done.
