Pilots carry the casket during the repatriation of Jazz Aviation First Officer Mackenzie Gunther in Ottawa on Thursday.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
Parlez-vous français?
Re “Air Canada CEO criticized for English-only condolence message after plane crash” (March 26): I find it appalling to listen to these servile politicians, including Mark Carney, and how they are using this heartbreaking tragedy to kiss up to French-speaking politicians and voters.
Two young men died. Be heartbroken, be respectful, but do not exploit this tragedy to advance political popularity. The opportunism sickens me.
Joanne O’Hara Oakville, Ont.
A few years ago during a regional Air Canada flight on a small plane in British Columbia, the flight attendant read the pre-departure instructions in French using a written script. She was not fluent.
She asked me afterward, with a smile, if she had pronounced everything properly as she had heard me speak French to my partner. I asked to see her script and saw that the French words were written phonetically so that an anglophone could read them. I reassured her that, even though her French was not perfect, at least she tried.
Maybe Michael Rousseau should have been handed a French script when addressing the grieving francophone family of one of the pilots. Or would that be too much to ask of him, to at least try.
“Ah-tah-shay vot-ruh san-ture.”
Geneviève Leclerq Ottawa
MAID access
Re “Restoring sanity to MAID laws in Canada will protect them” (March 24): I could not disagree more, having followed the evolution of medical assistance in dying in Canada with interest and tight lips.
I have friends languishing “slack-jawed” in nursing homes, suffering from dementia and unable to recognize anyone, but with bodies that won’t give up. Who wants that? Not them. Not me. Not anyone.
We should expand the law to include advance directives to allow our own deaths in circumstances that we name. My life, my choice.
Carol Town Hamilton
As a retired gerontologist, I have been around my share of “elder end of life.”
I’ve seen it go well. I’ve also seen families implode from caregiving stress, elders bungle their suicide, etc.
Medical assistance in dying recently became personal for me when my 93-year-old father-in-law requested and was approved for it. He was not terminally ill, thus he was Track 2. I had private chats with him about his wish to end life “on my terms, with dignity.”
It was heartwarming to watch staff and residents at his assisted living residence react to his MAID news (gossip travels fast in those facilities). Most importantly, we had time to help get his affairs in order and say our sincere goodbyes.
He knew he was loved, and his “paramount pragmatic wish” was met: He left this world peacefully, on his terms, with his dignity intact.
James Watzke PhD, Toronto
Canada only has medical assistance in dying laws because of court decisions. Federal politicians then only unenthusiastically passed laws which attempted to narrow the Carter decision.
Medical assistance in dying should be viewed as a human rights issue. The ability to control one’s own life (and death) is part of the human experience.
As a psychiatrist, it is clear to me that mental illness is a disorder of the brain, which is part of the body. Why is there no debate over MAID for dementia (also a disorder of the brain) but opposition to MAID for depression? This, in my view, is part of the stigma associated with “mental illness.”
Regardless of what the politicians say or do, I believe this issue will ultimately be decided by the courts, as it should be with a human rights issue.
Derryck Smith Clinical professor emeritus, department of psychiatry, University of British Columbia; Vancouver
It is suggested that Alberta’s proposed legislation would restore “reasonable limits” and integrity to medical assistance in dying. Not what my friend Hanne Schafer would say.
Hanne, her partner and I flailed about from 2013 to 2016 before attaining a court-ordered exemption to end her life given her ALS pain, loss of independence and no hope of a cure. She successfully achieved a peaceful, dignified death on Feb. 29, 2016.
Over the past 10 years, I have had several people ask me for MAID information because their physicians would not provide it. One woman told me she was dismissed with the comment: “You’re fine, you’re not ready to die.” Providing information does not mean a physician is promoting MAID.
There are several MAID issues that do require attention: the rights of mature minors, advanced directives and mental illness as a sole factor. Let’s get on with resolving these important questions.
Mary Valentich Professor emerita, faculty of social work, University of Calgary
An inquest?
Re “Ontario’s Premier and police are undermining the legitimacy of the court process” (March 24): The only way I see to clear the air on the stark differences between the Ontario Provincial Police report and the Zameer verdict is a public inquest.
A cloud now hangs over the integrity of the trial, Umar Zameer, the Toronto Police officers involved and the OPP report itself. On one hand, the jury accepted that the officer died accidentally. On the other hand, the OPP report concluded that his death was the result of criminal acts. These opposing views are irreconcilable.
If Ontario’s Chief Coroner called an inquest, one question an inquest jury answers is the means by which a deceased person died: Was it an accident or homicide? The coroner may compel witnesses to testify and interested parties have a right to cross-examine.
Such a public hearing would allow us all to assess the relevant evidence and arrive at an informed understanding of the circumstances surrounding this tragedy.
Ian Scott Former director, Ontario Special Investigations Unit; Toronto
Fine film
Re “Ryan Gosling’s galaxy-sized charm keeps Project Hail Mary from drifting into deep space” (March 20): In science fiction, anything goes: Computers talk back, replicants do somersaults, very large worms chuff along in the sand. So when I accompanied two young lads to see Project Hail Mary, I anticipated a full beaker of preposterous nonsense.
I was not to be disappointed. There are enough holes in this movie to fill several black holes and a few galaxies to boot.
A PhD elementary school teacher suddenly promoted to save the Earth by booting it to a distant star? No problem. The world’s leading scientist singing a romantic number in a boozy karaoke bar? Okey-doke. A bunch of nasty blobs munching on the sun? Could be (I guess).
The two little squirts with me were of the opinion that everything was hunky dory. They didn’t even protest the swelling music which constantly roared from the screen, overwhelming their long-suffering grandpa.
This too, however, was fine with me.
Lorne Hicks Georgina, Ont.
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