Support the Standard
We need your support to bring the Standard to the attention of Parliamentarians.
The Vulnerable Persons Standard contains a series of safeguards that will help to ensure that Canadians requesting assistance from physicians to end their life can do so without jeopardizing the lives of vulnerable persons who may be subject to coercion and abuse. We are calling on all members of Parliament to ensure that federal legislation regulating physician-assisted death incorporate these safeguards.
Advisors to the Vulnerable Persons Standard
The following Advisors to the Vulnerable Persons Standard have contributed their invaluable insights and expertise to this initiative, either through active participation in authorship and review, or through thoughtful endorsement of the Standard and its safeguards framework.
Some advisors to the Vulnerable Persons Standard, and some individuals and organizations who have endorsed the Standard, have ethical and moral objections to euthanasia and assisted suicide, but have agreed to support this Standard in order to limit the harms and risks that these practices present, especially to vulnerable people.
Affiliations are indicated for information purposes only and do not necessarily represent organizational endorsement.
Dr. Nuala Kenny, OC, MD, FRCP(C)
Professor Emeritus, Dalhousie University and Former Member, Provincial-Territorial Expert Advisory Group on Physician-Assisted Dying
Lana Kerzner, LLB
Barrister and Solicitor, Toronto
Lecturer in Disability and Law, School of Disability Studies, Ryerson University
Robert Lattanzio, LLB BCL
Executive Director, ARCH Disability Law Centre
Trudo Lemmens (LicJur, LLM bioethics, DCL)
Professor and Scholl Chair in Health Law and Policy
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Dr. Renata Leong, MD.,cM, MHSc, CCFP, FCFP
Staff Physician, Department of Family and Community Medicine, St. Michael's Hospital
Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
Dr. Constant H. Leung, MD, CCFP, FCFP
Family Physician, Collingwood Medical Clinic, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Dr. Wi-Guan Lim, MD
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
Dr. Cindy Lou, MD
Family Physician
Brian L. Mishara, Ph.D
Directeur, Centre de recherche et d'intervention sur le suicide et l'euthanasie
Professeur, Département de psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal
Wendall Nicholas
Chair, Wabanaki Council on Disability
Ken V. Pike
Director of Social Policy, New Brunswick Association for Community Living
Dianne Pothier (Founding Advisor, now deceased)
Professor Emeritus, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University
Michael J. Prince, PhD
Landsdowne Professor of Social Policy, University of Victoria
Dean Richert, LLB
Barrister and Solicitor
Co-Chair, End of Life Ethics Committee, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Associate, Duboff Edwards Haight & Schachter Law Corporation Member
Diane Richler, CM
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. International Fellow
Mary Shariff, BSc, LLB, LLM, PhD
Associate Dean Academic, JD Program, University of Manitoba
Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba
Margaret Somerville AM, FRSC, DCL
Professor and Founding Director, Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law
Samuel Gale Chair in Law, McGill Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law,
C. Tess Sheldon, MSc, JD, LLM, PhD
Staff Lawyer, ARCH Disability Law Centre
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
Contract lecturer, Faculty of Law, Lakehead University
Timothy Stainton, BSW, MSW, PhD
Director and Professor, School of Social Work, University of British Columbia
Director of the Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship, UBC
Dr. William F. Sullivan, MD, CCFP, PhD, FCFP.
Family Physician, St. Michael's Hospital and Surrey Place Centre, Toronto
Associate Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto
Donna Thompson
Disability and family caregiving activist, consultant and author
Board member, NeuroDevNet, a Canadian Network of Centres of Excellence
Consultant to Saint Elizabeth Health Care, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario
Dr. Jennifer Y. Tong, MD, CCFP
Family Physician,Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Jutta Treviranus
Director, Inclusive Design Research Centre, OCAD University
Bruce Uditsky, M. Ed.
Chief Executive Officer, Inclusion Alberta
Dr. Eric Wasylenko, MD, BSc, MHSc (Bioethics)
Palliative Care Physician and Clinical Ethicist;
Clinical Lecturer, John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre, University of Alberta
Rhonda Wiebe
Co-Chair, End of Life Ethics Committee, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Member, Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities
Michael Bach, PhD
Managing Director, IRIS–Institute for Research & Development on Inclusion and Society
Adjunct Professor, Disability Studies, Ryerson University
David Baker, LLB
Barrister and Solicitor, Bakerlaw
Jonas-Sébastien Beaudry, D.Phil.
Assistant Professor
Peter A. Allard School of Law
University of British Columbia
Dr. Althea Burrell, BASc, MD, FRCP(C)
Staff Respirologist, Markham Stouffville Hospital
Dr. Sharon Chapman, MBBCh, CCFP
Family Medicine; Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
Hospice-Based Palliative Care Physician, St. Michael's Hospice, Burnaby, BC
Dr. Sherry Chan, MD, CCFP
General Practitioner in Oncology, BC Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Dr. Luke Chen, MD, FRCPC, MMEd
Residency Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor, Division of Hematology, Vancouver General Hospital and University of British Columbia
Hematologist, Vancouver, BC
Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov, OC, OM, MD, PhD, FRCPC, FRSC
Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba
Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care
Director, Manitoba Palliative Care Research Unit, CancerCare Manitoba
Chair, Canadian Virtual Hospice
Dr. Joyce Choi, MD, CCFP
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
Staff Physician, Short Term Assessment & Treatment Centre, Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Audrey Cole, O. Ont.
Human rights activist, educator and lecturer
Distinguished Associate, Canadian Association for Community Living and Associate, IRIS–Institute for Research & Development on Inclusion and Society
Dr. Margaret Cottle, MD, CCFP (Palliative Care)
Palliative Care Physician, Burnaby Palliative Care Program, Fraser Health Authority, Burnaby, BC and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, Vancouver, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Jim Derksen, LLD. (Hon.)
Senior Advisor, Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Special Advisor – Vulnerable Persons and End of Life Care Initiative (Completed)
Premier's Advisory Council on Education, Poverty and Citizenship in Manitoba
Dr. Ed Dubland, MD, AAHPMc, MCFP (Palliative Care)
Family Physician, Collingwood Medical Clinic, Vancouver, BC
Palliative Medicine, Medical Coordinator, Burnaby Palliative Care Program, Fraser Health Authority, Burnaby, BC
Clinical Instructor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Al Etmanski, OC
Co-Founder of PLAN – Planned Lifetime Advocacy Networks
Co-founder of Social innovation Generation (SiG) and BC Partners for Social Impact
Dr. Catherine Ferrier MD, CCFP, FCFP,
Division of Geriatric Medicine, McGill University Health Centre
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, McGill University
Catherine Frazee, OC, D.Litt., LLD. (Hon.)
Professor Emerita, Ryerson University School of Disability Studies
Esme Fuller-Thomson, PhD
Professor & Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work,
Faculty of Medicine
Director, Institute for Life Course & Aging, University of Toronto
Adele D. Furrie
Researcher, survey methodologist and information management consultant
Dr. Rose Geist
Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Mental Health Systems, Trillium Health Centre
Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Child and Adolescent Division), University of Toronto
Dr. Peter D. Golin, MD
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
Dr. Philip J. Hanam, MD, CCFP
Family Medicine
Family Physician, Vancouver, BC
Dr. Stephen W. Hwang, MD, MPH, FRCPC
Professor of Medicine and Director, Division of General Internal Medicine, University of Toronto
Director, Centre for Research on Inner City Health, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto
Chair in Homelessness, Housing and Health, and Staff Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto
Dr. Will Johnston, MD, MCFP
Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
Kerri Joffe, LLB, BCL, MSW
Staff Lawyer, ARCH Disability Law Centre
Organizations Supporting the Standard
We are grateful to acknowledge the strong support of community and health organizations across Canada.
If you would like to add your organization to the gallery below, please contact info@vps-npv.ca.
ARCH Disability Law Centre
Association pour l’intégration sociale (région de Québec)
Autistic Self Advocacy Network
Brockville & District Association for Community Involvement
Canadian Association for Community Living
Canadian Association of the Deaf
Canadian Council of Imams
Canadian Down Syndrome Society
Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association
Canadian Physicians for Life
Catholic Health Alliance of Canada
Canadian Society of Palliative Care Physicians
Centre for Inclusion and Citizenship at the University of British Columbia
Christian Legal Fellowship
Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada
Citizens with Disabilities – Ontario
Communication Disabilities Access Canada
Community Living Atikokan
Community Living Manitoba
Community Living North Bay
Community Living Ontario
Community Living Selkirk
Community Living Welland Pelham
Council of Canadians with Disabilities
DAWN-RAFH Canada – Disabled Women’s Network of Canada
Durham Association for Family Respite Services
Ethno-Racial Disability Coalition of Ontario (ERDCO)
Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
Families for a Secure Future
Fredericton Association for Community Living
Inclusion Alberta
Inclusion British Columbia
L'Arche Canada
Legacies.ca
VieCanada/LifeCanada
Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities
MSA Society for Community Living
National Education Association of Disabled Students
New Brunswick Association for Community Living
Newfoundland and Labrador Association for Community Living
Nova Scotia Association for Community Living
People First of Canada
People First of Ontario
PLAN – Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network
Physicians Alliance against Euthanasia
Prince Edward Island Association for Community Living
Saskatchewan Association for Community Living
Saskatchewan Association of Rehabilitation Centres (SARC)
School of Disability Studies at Ryerson University
Société Québécoise des Médecins de Soins Palliatifs
St. Joseph's Health Care London
Toronto Board of Rabbis
Yukon Association for Community Living
Support the Standard
Show your support for the Standard by adding your name to our list of Canadians who are calling on Parliamentarians to ensure that federal policies for permitting physician-assisted death under the Criminal Code incorporate the VPS safeguards.
Canadians publicly supporting the Standard.
Share the Standard
Use our ready-made messages to share the Standard by email and through your social networks. By promoting the Standard you can help to ensure that that federal legislation regulating physician-assisted death incorporates the VPS safeguards.
