CCD Chairperson's Update - Special Edition

Launching CCD’s Help to Live, Not Die Campaign

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) is a national organization of people with disabilities that works To Build a More Inclusive and Accessible Canada.  Legislators, the courts, health care practitioners, legal scholars, ethicists and the general public have all been preoccupied with issues surrounding assisted suicide and euthanasia.  Precedents have been established in some other countries.  A recent judgement handed down by a British Columbia court (Carter Case) opens the door for assisted suicide here in Canada even though no safeguards have been created to protect vulnerable people in our society.

Sadly, we as people with disabilities are viewed as living lives of suffering.  Some consider our lives not worth living and believe we would be better off dead.  Rather than being singled out as the only group deserving physician-assisted suicide, we need to know people want us alive, not dead.  We are people with disabilities.  We are moms and dads, students and teachers, workers and unemployed, young and old, and leaders and active citizens in our communities.

We want help to live our lives, not end them.

CCD needs at least $10,000 to ensure that our voice is heard at the BC Court of Appeal.  The appeal of the Carter decision will be heard in March 2013.  CCD asks for your support to offset our legal costs and the costs of people with disabilities attending the hearing.  We need your support to ensure that the judges hearing this appeal know that legalizing assisted suicide makes persons with disabilities more vulnerable. 

You can make a gift to CCD by visiting the Help to Live Not Die campaign on Indiegogo.

All donations will be used to support the voice of people with disabilities and CCD's opposition to assisted suicide.  CCD is a charitable nonprofit association and will provide tax receipts for all donations.

Additional information on CCD’s activities can be found in our online updates.