The Delta Hospice Society is trying to build anew less than four months after losing their ten-bed hospice due to a B.C. provincial directive that required medical assistance in dying (MAiD) to be offered onsite..“No government money, no government land, no government interference, and most importantly – no government forced killings!” read the society’s statement on its new plans..Society president Angelina Ireland told the Western Standard there is both great demand and need for the “sanctuary” they want to build..“It would be a place where there would be no euthanasia allowed. No one would speak about euthanasia and people could come there from all over…to die in peace. We’d give them a proper palliative care experience as an authentic one. And they would be taken care of until their last breath,” Ireland said..“We’ve spoken to people all over…People are very, very frightened. And so we think we’d better move forward and create a ‘safe space’ as the left just likes to call it, a safe space for the dying… because so many times you’re being harassed, coerced, pressured into accepting MAiD. So we want a place where people can go and never have to deal with that.”.The society made national headlines as its hospice would not offer MAiD onsite, though it would allow patients who chose death to have it administered a nearby hospital. The hospice building and operations were privately owned and operated but were built on government land. The Fraser Health Authority refused to renew the contract with the province to run the hospice, then unilaterally cancelled a 35-year land lease..The hospice and accompanying supportive care centre, built with $8.5 million of private funds ten years ago, was closed March 29. On April 15, the health authority re-opened the hospice as a government-owned and run institution that would offer MAiD onsite..Euthanasia advocates who oppose the society’s mandate attempted court action to disallow an online annual general meeting (AGM) and force one in person. However, on July 13, a judge ruled the membership could have a special online meeting to ask society members if they want a virtual/electronic AGM. If approved, the AGM is expected for September..Ireland said they contemplated a legal challenge of their former facility’s seizure, but were advised that a legal fight would cost $70,000 and fighting again after a likely appeal would probably cost another $70,000. The board decided instead to put time and money towards a new hospice while they continue to operate a thrift store and programs..The board also has a vision to have a national movement towards hospices of this kind called “Hospice Sanctuary.” Their new website www.hospicesanctuary.org lays out the new vision and its membership drive..“We want people to call us and tell us their stories, tell us about the pressure that they feel or have been subjected to around MAiD,” Ireland said. “We need to call for perhaps a provincial or national inquiry as to what the hell is going on out there with elderly people, with sick people.”.Ireland believes MAiD is a cost-cutting measure for the government since euthanasia costs $400 to administer, but palliative care costs $700 to $1200 every day..“Everyone wants to romanticize – oh they’re having a wonderful calm death. Nobody actually knows the medication or the drugs that are involved in euthanasia. It’s the same drugs they use on death row…that paralyzes people, and then basically drowns them, right? Their lungs fill up with liquid and they die,” Ireland said..“But the reality is a very ugly and almost sinister place that this country has gone to, a rich nation, a nation of compassion that wants to take care of its people. And all we’ve done is just facilitated death.”.Harding is a Western Standard correspondent based in Saskatchewan
