English
Excerpt from House of Commons: Bill C-304, an act to amend the Criminal Code (aiding suicide)
March 6, 1997
PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS
CRIMINAL CODE
Mr. Svend J. Robinson (Burnaby-Kingsway, NDP) moved that Bill C-304, an act to amend the Criminal Code (aiding suicide), be read the second time and referred to a committee.
He said: Mr. Speaker, each year in Canada more than 190,000 Canadians die. We know that some 40,000 Canadians die each year of tobacco related causes and I am very pleased that this House has just passed Bill C-71 which will have an impact on health, in particular young Canadians.
Some Info About Robert Latimer
[6 February 1997]
Is Tracy's murder the only crime that Latimer has been charged with?
People with Disabilities Outraged by Murders
(5 February 1997) — The killing of Tracy Latimer by her father, Robert Latimer, alarmed people with disabilities. The outpouring of public support for Robert Latimer also shocked people with disabilities. At the time of the first trial, the perspective of people with disabilities was largely ignored. It was Robert Latimer, Tracy's killer, who presented the Canadian public, via the media, with its understanding of Tracy Latimer and her life. Public opinion became skewed by an ableist bias because the voice of Canada's community of persons with disabilities was largely ignored.
CCD Ready for Supreme Court's Decision in Latimer Case This Thursday
(4 February 1997) — When the decision comes down in Robert Latimer's appeal, Irene Feika, a past Chairperson of CCD will be in Ottawa and available to the media to present the perspective of Canadians with disabilities in this case. Ms. Feika has her own personal experience with disability, is the mother of a daughter and an adopted daughter who both have disabilities and has worked extensively with multiply handicapped children. Coincidentally, Ms.
Canadians with Disabilities Demand Retrial for Latimer
For Immediate Release
February 6, 1997
Winnipeg - The Supreme Court has set aside the conviction and ordered a new trial for Robert Latimer.
The Council of Canadians with Disabilities demands that the rights of Tracy Latimer and all people with disabilities be equally respected.
The Council calls on the Crown Prosecutor's Office in Saskatchewan to immediately retry Robert Latimer on the charge of first degree murder for the deliberate killing of his twelve year old daughter Tracy.
Justice Delayed 19 Years for Ronald Lambert
(14 January 1997) — On 20 January 1997, Ronald Leonard Brown was sentenced to two years in jail for manslaughter. It only took Manitobans 19 years to convict Ronald Leonard Brown, 37, for smothering to death 11 year old Ronald Lambert. This was despite the fact that Brown confessed his actions three weeks after Lambert's death and then on several other occasions.
Assisted Suicide - A Feminist Issue
[10 January 1997]
(On 8 January 1997, the US Supreme Court heard oral arguments on doctor assisted suicide. In the Glucksberg and Quill cases doctors and some terminally ill people, who have all since died, challenge bans on assisted suicide. The following views are those of Barbara Waxman Fiduccia, who is associated with Not Dead Yet, a US disability rights organization opposing euthanasia.)
Disabled fear for lives as mercy killing gains acceptance
Ottawa Citizen, January 8, 1997
The Latimer Watch began as a voice for the disabled because Robert Latimer became a minor hero, a good father, a guy in a tough spot, a sad sod who offed his disabled daughter, Tracy, with carbon monoxide as she squirmed in the front seat of his truck.