OTTAWA - Margaret Somerville has called on Parliamentarians to "have a backbone" in dealing with euthanasia in Canada.

Hang on for dear life.

Unfortunately, the dearness of life seems to be dying a not-so-slow death.

OTTAWA - Campaign Life Coalition has announced “Let Life Win” as the theme of the 2015 National March for Life to be held May 14 in Ottawa.

OTTAWA - The federal Conservatives intend to undertake extensive consultations and still meet the one-year deadline set by the Supreme Court of Canada when it struck down the laws against assisted suicide in the Carter decision Feb. 6.

EDMONTON - Jo-Anne Paquette’s three-month journey with Martha Shephard as she died from a brain tumour was both physically draining and a spiritual gift for Paquette.

A number of voices have called on the federal government to trump the Supreme Court’s assisted-suicide decision with the notwithstanding clause — the controversial section 33 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms which allows Parliament to pass laws contravening some rights and liberties for up to five years before legislators have to re-vote on the matter or craft new legislation.

OTTAWA - McGill University ethicist Margaret Somerville has called for a Royal Commission on “physician-assisted death” as well as for the federal government to invoke the notwithstanding clause to trump the Supreme Court's recent ruling on the matter.

In the 33-year life of the Charter of Rights and Freedom the federal government has never invoked the notwithstanding clause to override a court ruling. But Canada has never faced a decision quite like the Feb. 6 edict by the Supreme Court that will usher in assisted suicide and euthanasia.

OTTAWA - With one year to come up with a solution after the Supreme Court struck down Canada’s laws against physician-assisted suicide, there are any number of options being bandied about on all spectrums of the political divide.

And so it begins. The Supreme Court of Canada decision to legalize assisted suicide (and by extension euthanasia) is chilling but no surprise. Poll after poll has shown Canadian public sympathy moving steadily in favour of some form of state-sanctioned killing.  

OTTAWA - Disappointment, indignation and calls to invoke the notwithstanding clause followed a historic Supreme Court of Canada unanimous decision that struck down a ban on physician-assisted suicide and opened the door to assisted death for people who may not have a terminal illness.

Despite calls for quick and decisive action from opponents of the Supreme Court ruling that legalized physician-assisted suicide, Justice Minister Peter MacKay said the government has no intention of acting hastily.

TORONTO - The coming months will be critical for Canada’s pro-life movement as the country faces the potential legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Doctors may be men and women of action, but before a patient dies they should be open and available for lots of talk, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is advising its members.