Judge who helped legalize assisted dying in Canada is mother of ‘right to die campaigner’

A top Canadian judge who helped with that legalize assisted dying has been accused of bias after it emerged her daughter is a right-to-die campaigner.

Elin Sigurdson, the daughter of Judge Lynn Smith, worked for the advocacy group that filed the lawsuit that led to the practice becoming legal in 2016.

The case, Carter vs. Canada, was brought by several parties, including the family of a woman who suffered from spinal stenosis and another woman who had ALS, who argued that they should be allowed to end their lives rather than continue treatment.

The Supreme Court further ruled that “laws banning physician-assisted dying impair the liberty and safety” of those who have “serious and irremediable” medical conditions.

Carter vs. Canada was filed by the advocacy group British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA), which had campaigned for years to give terminally ill people the right to medically end their lives.

The case is now considered by Britain as an example of best practice, as the British government is debating whether assisted death should be legalized.

State Supreme Court Justice Smith ruled in favor of Carter in 2012.

This sent the case to the Supreme Court of Canada, which four years later overturned laws banning assisted suicide in certain cases.

However, a request to the Supreme Court of Canada demanded that the case be thrown out due to a “web of connections” between Judge Smith and the BCCLA.

The 2019 motion was filed by Roger Foley, a disabled Ontario man who fears the legalization of assisted dying has been pushed through by biased judges.

The Supreme Court of Canada declined to hear Mr. Foley’s request on the grounds that it was not filed on time and that he was not a party to the original case.

He continues to argue against the legalization of this practice because he believes people with disabilities are unfairly targeted.

The allegations in his motion have gained new attention as Britain considers opening up its own laws.

Mr. Foley’s motion states: “The BCCLA knowingly manipulated the legal system, along with complicit judges, to make euthanasia and assisted suicide legal in Canada.

“This decision has been used to influence policy in other countries, and vulnerable people have been wrongly killed as a result.”

Sigurdson supported the legalization of assisted dying

The documents alleged that Ms. Sigurdson was working with the BCCLA around the time of the Carter case, including directly with Joseph Arvay, the group’s lead attorney.

Ms Sigurdson, who is now a High Court judge, was previously a lawyer at Arvay’s firm Arvay Finlay, and the pair worked together on numerous cases.

She also worked with Sheila Tucker, another Carter attorney.

Ms. Sigurdson publicly supported the legalization of assisted dying and once posted on Twitter calling on people to “support the right to die with dignity,” according to the legal filing.

In February 2015, she congratulated BCCLA’s legal team on its victory in the Carter case.

Judge Smith and Ms. Sigurdson declined to comment.

Britain votes on assisted dying bill

The documents came to light as MPs in Britain vote next Friday bill to legalize assisted dying.

As part of last year’s assisted dying inquiry that preceded the bill, MPs heard from Canadian experts including James Downar, a palliative care doctor in Ottawa, who cited the Carter case as a model for Britain.

The new findings raise questions about whether Canada’s path to legalizing assisted dying is a legitimate example for Britain to follow.

“The parallels between the Carter case and the current push for this (British) bill are clear,” Foley said, accusing Kim Leadbeater and Christine Jardine, who spearheaded the bill, of “recklessly pursuing their own interests , without taking into account the impact on the bill. those most at risk.”

Judge Smith served on the BCCLA board

In addition to her daughter’s work with the campaign group, Judge Smith served at various points on the BCCLA board and, from 1996 to 1997, served as president of the Law Foundation of British Columbia, the group’s largest outside fundraiser.

The Foundation gave $389,500 to the campaign group last year, its financial statements show.

The BCCLA, founded in 1962, had already published policy documents in favor of assisted dying in 1988.

Both Judge Smith and her daughter later appeared in a film about the verdict called The Death Debate, made in collaboration with the BCCLA, which appeared to celebrate the legalization of assisted dying.

YouTube / TELUS STORYHIVE | The Death Debate – Assisted Death in Canada

Mr Foley’s motion also alleges that Beverley McLachlin – the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, who had the final say on the legalization of assisted dying – gave the impression of bias due to close ties to the BCCLA.

Ms McLachlin is said to have had a close relationship with both the president and the director of the campaign group at the time.

The motion alleges that Ms. McLachlin suffered from “tunnel vision” regarding assisted death and should have recused herself from the case because of her friendship with members of the BCCLA.

André Schutten of the Association for Reformed Political Action, who opposed legalizing assisted suicide during the Carter case, told True North: “As a human rights lawyer fighting for the full and equal protection of the law for persons with disabilities , I don’t do that” I don’t see justice being done if there seems to be a conflict here.’

He added that it would have been “prudent” if Judge Smith had recused himself from the start.

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