English

by Elizabeth Derouin

(30 October 1997) — Two weeks ago, I read a couple of articles in the CCD Latimer Watch that made me ill. The articles were based on euthanasia. One of the victims was Tracy Latimer...and the other was Katie Lynn Baker who had been starved to death.

...Euthanasia is growing to a point where it is only a question of time where society will be making life and death decisions for people with disabilities as a whole, and determining their worth to the human race. No one is entitled to play the role of God, if there is one.

(29 October 1997) — On 22 September 1997, New Democrat MP Svend Robinson held a press conference to draw attention once again to the issue of assisted suicide. Mr. Robinson shared with reporters the news that one of his constituents, Natverlal Thakore, 78, had killed himself in Detroit with the assistance of Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

As in many other assisted suicides, disability was an issue in this case as well. Mr. Thakore had Parkinson's disease.

[28 October 1997]

A Personal Perspective

In Quebec some disability organizations used the Charles Blais killing to focus attention on deficits in support services? Is this appropriate?

[27 October 1997]

What activities will the Saskatchewan Voice of People with Disabilities be undertaking during the upcoming trial of Robert Latimer?

During the trial we will have somebody from the Voice in the court at all times. We want to be able to have a good understanding of what is going on during jury selection and during the actual trial.

How has the Saskatchewan media covered the trial in the past?

(23 October 1997) — CCD's member group the Saskatchewan Voice of People with Disabilities will be monitoring Robert Latimer's latest trial, which is scheduled to begin 27 October 1997 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. CCD and the Saskatchewan Voice intervened in Latimer's 1995 appeal. CCD and the Voice will not be intervening in the proceedings beginning on 27 October because interventions are not usual at the trial level.

[20 October 1997]

Why are you working with the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities on the Latimer Case?

[13 October 1997]

What alarms you most about the Latimer case?

[9 October 1997]

Why is the Latimer case important?

[2 October 1997]

When Robert Latimer appealed his murder conviction and sentence to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal in 1995, I appeared on behalf of the Intervenor, People in Equal Participation, Inc. to assert the rights of persons with disabilities by supporting the Crown's position. It was not a lucrative case, or even within my usual area of practice, but it was one of the more gratifying files of my legal career. The issues in the case touched not only my interest, but fundamental aspects of my life.

[October 1997]

Tracy Latimer
Jim Nazar
Nancy B.
Sue Rodriguez
Ryan Wilkieson
Charles Blais
Andrea Halpin
Austin Bastable
Katie Lynn Baker
Ronald Lambert

All these people were killed because they had a disability. Won't you contribute to the Tracy Fund to help support CCD's efforts to protect the fundamental human rights of people with disabilities.