Zoltri
01-28-2005, 07:52 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA Marcel Tremblay said he wasn't crazy, just fed up with suffering and determined to die by his own hand with his family by his side.
The retired rooming house owner went public today with his plans to kill himself tonight at his suburban bungalow because he wanted people to debate the right to die with dignity.
The stooped, frail-looking 78-year-old, suffering from a fatal lung disease, sat before a phalanx of cameras at his lawyer's office to say that he was ready to die and didn't care who knew it.
He was lucky, he said, because he was still strong enough to tug a helium-filled bag over his head - his method of choice - and, "pull the plug."
Those who don't have that strength are left without a choice, he said, because the law bans assisting a suicide.
Tremblay said he no longer found any joy or happiness in life. Even his trips to Syracuse, N.Y., to play poker, one of his favourite pastimes, were impossible.
"There is no quality to this life and since I have this disease that's going to kill me anyway, I don't feel I want to wait around for that to happen."
God and religion hold neither fears nor promise to him, he added.
"We're getting older and they're keeping us alive, dammit," he growled in a low, but firm voice.
Tremblay felt that the law should be changed to allow assisted suicide, said his lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon.
"He is in a position where he can do something," Greenspon said. "The vast majority of people who suffer terminal illnesses are not in a position where they are physically able to do what he intends to do and that's a very big part of the reason why he's decided to be very public about his intentions."
Tremblay said even groups that support death with dignity don't want to talk about suicide.
"They all say: `Don't call the police, don't tell anybody, go in the corner and do it.'
"We're never going to get that law changed if everybody does that. I could have done that like everybody else is doing.
"This is going on all the time but people just don't want to talk about it."
Through his news conference, he insisted that he would not back down. He planned a last meal with his family and a living wake with family and friends, before going home to die.
Tremblay's wife and adult children, two daughters, a son and a son-in-law, looked on as he spoke, their faces expressionless, although he said they all support him.
He recounted a litany of health problems, including back trouble, stomach problems and an incurable and eventually fatal lung condition.
"I just don't want to live any more than one more day living the way I've been living the last three months, getting up and going to bed with a constant hangover-type headache."
Greenspon, looking decidedly uncomfortable and admitting to moral and ethical qualms about Tremblay's decision, nevertheless, said what he planned was perfectly legal.
And, the lawyer said, Ottawa police told him they had no plans to interfere.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler called it a "very tragic situation."
"This is a very, very difficult and painful question about which Canadians have different views. There is no real emergent consensus," he said.
"I cannot as the minister of justice and the attorney general instruct authorities as to what they do in these matters. These are matters that fall within the domain of the provincial administration of justice."
Tremblay said he'd discussed his decision with two psychiatrists before police heard of his plan this month and took him to the Ottawa Hospital, apparently for another psychiatric evaluation.
He said he spent five hours sitting at the hospital with three policemen watching him, only to have a doctor come in, ask three questions and tell him he was free to go.
At that point, Greenspon said, the police washed their hands of the case.
Since Tremblay wouldn't get any help, there would be no crime, he said. An unidentified, independent witness would be on hand to confirm no help was given.
His determination came through as he whispered with Greenspon before the news conference began and spoke about poker.
"They say poker is a game where you have to make decisions and it's the same with this. You have to make a decision."
OTTAWA Marcel Tremblay said he wasn't crazy, just fed up with suffering and determined to die by his own hand with his family by his side.
The retired rooming house owner went public today with his plans to kill himself tonight at his suburban bungalow because he wanted people to debate the right to die with dignity.
The stooped, frail-looking 78-year-old, suffering from a fatal lung disease, sat before a phalanx of cameras at his lawyer's office to say that he was ready to die and didn't care who knew it.
He was lucky, he said, because he was still strong enough to tug a helium-filled bag over his head - his method of choice - and, "pull the plug."
Those who don't have that strength are left without a choice, he said, because the law bans assisting a suicide.
Tremblay said he no longer found any joy or happiness in life. Even his trips to Syracuse, N.Y., to play poker, one of his favourite pastimes, were impossible.
"There is no quality to this life and since I have this disease that's going to kill me anyway, I don't feel I want to wait around for that to happen."
God and religion hold neither fears nor promise to him, he added.
"We're getting older and they're keeping us alive, dammit," he growled in a low, but firm voice.
Tremblay felt that the law should be changed to allow assisted suicide, said his lawyer, Lawrence Greenspon.
"He is in a position where he can do something," Greenspon said. "The vast majority of people who suffer terminal illnesses are not in a position where they are physically able to do what he intends to do and that's a very big part of the reason why he's decided to be very public about his intentions."
Tremblay said even groups that support death with dignity don't want to talk about suicide.
"They all say: `Don't call the police, don't tell anybody, go in the corner and do it.'
"We're never going to get that law changed if everybody does that. I could have done that like everybody else is doing.
"This is going on all the time but people just don't want to talk about it."
Through his news conference, he insisted that he would not back down. He planned a last meal with his family and a living wake with family and friends, before going home to die.
Tremblay's wife and adult children, two daughters, a son and a son-in-law, looked on as he spoke, their faces expressionless, although he said they all support him.
He recounted a litany of health problems, including back trouble, stomach problems and an incurable and eventually fatal lung condition.
"I just don't want to live any more than one more day living the way I've been living the last three months, getting up and going to bed with a constant hangover-type headache."
Greenspon, looking decidedly uncomfortable and admitting to moral and ethical qualms about Tremblay's decision, nevertheless, said what he planned was perfectly legal.
And, the lawyer said, Ottawa police told him they had no plans to interfere.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler called it a "very tragic situation."
"This is a very, very difficult and painful question about which Canadians have different views. There is no real emergent consensus," he said.
"I cannot as the minister of justice and the attorney general instruct authorities as to what they do in these matters. These are matters that fall within the domain of the provincial administration of justice."
Tremblay said he'd discussed his decision with two psychiatrists before police heard of his plan this month and took him to the Ottawa Hospital, apparently for another psychiatric evaluation.
He said he spent five hours sitting at the hospital with three policemen watching him, only to have a doctor come in, ask three questions and tell him he was free to go.
At that point, Greenspon said, the police washed their hands of the case.
Since Tremblay wouldn't get any help, there would be no crime, he said. An unidentified, independent witness would be on hand to confirm no help was given.
His determination came through as he whispered with Greenspon before the news conference began and spoke about poker.
"They say poker is a game where you have to make decisions and it's the same with this. You have to make a decision."