Covid-19: Opinion Piece
Responding to the Covid-19 Pandemic in the West:
“Isolation – 12 weeks and counting… We are the fortunate ones as we are surrounded by our family and have not been quarantined alone. Here in Alberta, the situation is not as difficult as it is in Ontario and Quebec where there are far more cases and a far higher death rate. Albertans tend to be very self-sufficient and equal to the task of flattening the curve.
When the province first began its daily video updates and website information on the situation, the Covid information box was placed beside the box containing information on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID). Well, that didn’t last when it became apparent that the most vulnerable groups in society were the elderly and those in continuing care.The MAID information has now been relegated to a very small access point at the bottom of the Alberta Health Services page. How ironic that as our society locks down to protect the vulnerable it simultaneously moves to open the flood gates of doctor assisted suicide. This pandemic has certainly underscored the hypocritical way of thinking about end of life care in Canada.
Keep safe, keep well and keep praying.”
Elizabeth Ring-Cassidy
June 2020
Okotoks, Alberta
Elizabeth is a Psychologist in Alberta who has also done research and writing for the deVeber Institute and served as Director of Student Services at Our Lady Seat of Wisdom College.