Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - May 15, 1985, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free press May 15 1985 Page focus the Law and mercy killing compassionate motive should be Al wed As limited defence by Barry Sneir Demnati special to the free press should the Law recognize As a defence the claim by a person accused of murder that his act was a mercy particularly when the victim was dying a pro and agonizing death and had pleaded with her devoted husband of 51 years to let me does Justice require that the husband who inflicts instantaneous death As an act of love and compassion be condemned As a common murderer in a Florida courtroom last the Laws response was an emphatic Roswell a 75yearold retired was sentenced to life imprisonment after a fort Lauderdale jury convicted him of first degree murder for firing two bullets into his wife Temple As she Lay on a Gilbert was suffering progressive senility from the dreaded brain alzheimer As Well As excruciating Back pain caused by spinal degeneration and her husband testified that he could think of no other Way to end her unusual feature the unusual feature of the Florida Case is not that a mercy killer was but that he was convicted of the More typical verdict in comparable cases is that the jury either acquits the defendant or else finds him not guilty on the grounds of temporary there is also the occasional Case in which the trial judge has placed the defendant on Proba Tion after permitting a guilty plea to Roswell Gilbert was brought to trial because Florida Law prohibits mercy killing or As it is often he would likewise have stood in the Dock had the act occurred elsewhere in the United or in under our criminal the Factor that distinguishes his Case from other de liberate killings compassion for the victim legally Orrele the reason is that the Crimi Nal Law has traditionally discounted motive As a defence to a criminal if the defendant has deliberately killed a defenceless it matters not whether his motive the reason Why he acted was grounded in or revenge or that it was prompted by empathy and the Stark fact that the defendant intentionally and deliberately killed is sufficient to convict for the Laws Stern response to the mercy killer is not mitigated even though death occurred at the victims that the victim May have pleaded for death provides no defence be cause Section 14 of the criminal code states that no person is entitled to consent to have death inflicted upon the likelihood that parliament will enact a euthanasia defence is and the Law Reform com Mission of Canada advised against such enactment in a two Page commentary in its 1983 Eutha aiding and Cessa Tion of yet it neglected to explain its although claiming that the difficulty of proving motive was of practical it promptly backtracked with the admission that it is indeed legally though to prove the motive behind an accused perhaps the key to the commis Sions approach is found in its sym pathetic reference to the widely held Contention that recognizing the defence would amount to accepting a devaluation of human in i would not hesitate to suggest that it is precisely this sentiment that explains Why the Law has consistently preserved the status quo on mercy Here is the rationale our Law makers resist change because they fear the symbolism that might Well attach to such keep in mind that one of the vital strands in the social fabric is our professed commitment to the Sanctity of human the extent of that commitment be exaggerated the be Lief is part of the mythology that grounds our sanity and National endorsement if parliament were to Grant a mercy killing it in authorize defendants to plead that the lives they extinguished were not Worth would not the Public respond by interpreting such manner of Law Reform As state sanctioned endorse ment of euthanasia the state cannot afford to besmirch its humanitarian image by accommodating the mercy killer what the Law has is what it perceives As the Best of both its steadfast refusal to permit a euthanasia defence enables its commitment to the Sanc Tity of human life to remain Unseul at the same contains an escape Hatch that offers the defendant the Hope of that mechanism is the which has the inherent Power to acquit the defendant on compassionate even though instructed by the trial judge that he has no defence in in other the mercy that the sanctimonious face of the Law officially denies the mercy killer re Mains an option that can be exercised by the it is thus no wonder in rejecting the de the Law Reform commis Sion Drew Comfort from its that our trial and the verdicts reached by our should be yet is this Janus faced policy really necessary in order for the Law to have it both ways i suggest that there is another one that avoids the hypocrisy of the current approach and yet accomplishes the same the alternative is to treat com passionate homicide As a limited which Means not outright acquittal but rather conviction for in defining the de Fence of parliament has already established the Prece Dent for such a limited defence by one who has deliberately slain a defenceless Section 215 of the criminal code enables a defend who exploded in murderous rage after being to plead his entitlement to a manslaughter verdict because he killed in hot blood after being mercy killers such As Roswell Gil Bert Merit at least the same consid encourage juries the enactment of the proposed limited defence would encourage juries to decide mercy killing cases in accordance and not in spite the if compassion for the accused dictates a merciful judg there would be no Neces sity forthe jury to flout the Law to achieve that a conviction for manslaughter truly serves the Best of both worlds unlike it leaves the trial judge with wide discretion in passing sen which can Range from Proba Tion to life in the appropriate the defendant might not even be sentenced to Pris in the the verdict of manslaughter would enshrine the principle however Noble or compassionate his no person has the Legal right to play god by committing an act of professor Sneideman teaches criminal Law at the faculty of University of Reagan at Ottburg it should never have facts of history need re emphasis by Zachariah Kay special to the free press the incredible events which transpired More than four decades ago Are having an extensive Impact Dur ing the current anniversaries Mark ing the conclusion of the second world it began in with ceremonies commemorating the liberation of Bergen Buchenwald and and will formally conclude in Israel with an Assembly on the defeat of nazi Germany and her perhaps Jerusalem More than any other Hub on Earth now serves As the major focal since it accommodates had the Centre which memorializes the heroes and martyrs of the had like smaller centres documents and publishes the records of what is the most heinous of crimes Ever perpetrated annals of world can we relate to this in retrospect and Prospect for one Winnipeg bar Mitzvah the Winter and Spring of 1945 was mixed with his civil Ian heroes wore Blue bomber uni tended goal for the Toronto Maple Leafs or engaged inthe Cut and thrust of parliamentary debate from the Kcf benches in Ottawa and the provinces his military heroes were Clad in Allied uniforms in Gen eral and in Craf Blue and jewish brigade Khaki in the hoped for speedy victories in Europe and the Pacific were coupled with the optimism of teenage Elan for a new world based on economic and social where love and tolerance somehow would miraculously supplant the hatred and bigotry of the be Day became one of Relief and circumspect Joy Over the conclusion to the hideous orgy of the last never mind the get on with Job of renovating the shattered world and put your Faith in tire new United let them Deal with the human and physical disasters which the Axis left in their 40 years there is still something nefarious in the manner with which so much has been left unexamined and cast scholars and publicists Are still busily mining the Depths to uncover unpleasant truths about attitudes and actions More pre inaction which accelerated the unnecessary spilling of human do the Mackenzie Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Winston Church ills rest peace fully in their Graves while the re searchers dig further and further Why is it that War criminals Are still being caught and while Pervert ers of history publish new and old spurious Hopes of tolerance ebb As the oncoming darkness resuscitate the spectre of bigotry whose cloak bears the Pat Tern of serpentine is it not astonishing that historical insensitivity could have so prevailed in the mind of the most powerful chief executive in the democratic world to Pitburg or not to bit Burg never should have been con we have a situation where Tom and Jane have not been taught the sullied facts of it is one of the major challenges which we failed to take up in the aftermath of the results of the subsequent Nuremberg and Tokyo War crimes trials were passed on to the professional modifiers which enabled them to produce the Geneva conventions of these were to assist us to act More civilly to one another and to protect the unprotected during but what did we do to instil in Tom and Jane knowledge so that they will not Only become aware of the iniquitous past but protect them selves with moral and intellectual fortitude from the disparages and hate merchants infected with Dis eased minds How frightening it is to contemplate the James Keegstra tutoring High school students in this one of the failures of our formal education will not be corrected until the holocaust and its horrendous attributes Are the Core part of school studies dealing with the such teaching must not be superficially prepared but has to clearly emerge As the Foremost Les son gleaned from modern at might elevate our optimism As to the future prospects of Mankind in attaining a More civil and human it would be a positive step for Mankind if it were to Mark be Day with a dedication to comprehend the horrors of mass through a cerebral commitment to rational study and human we might be Able to Rebuff the evils Only 40 years began to reveal themselves to a quasi India Ferent Kay is a senior research associate in International relations at the hebrew University of and author of Canada and Palestine the politics of Manitoba guards interests in Hudson Bay Oil the possibility of an Oil find in Hudson Bay May leave the deficit pressed new Federal government wishing its Liberal predecessor had consented to a Deal proffered by former premiered Schreyer in in a policy statement to the legislature on june Schreyer claimed Manitoba right to All offshore resources within a Triangle formed by extending Manitoba boundaries out to what was then Canadas simile territorial limit now 200 Ottawa would be entitled to half the re source revenues beyond that while the other half would be distributed equitably among the 10 provinces and two there was one further proviso in the Schreyer if subsequent agreements Between the fed eral government and any province resulted in More favourable the same should apply to no finds were made in the Bay and the proposal remained in shortly a worldwide Oil crisis ballooned the resource wealth of Saskatchewan and provincial owner ship of resources became a major National the Federal government through negotiation and the controversial National Energy to stake a National claim to the Schreyer government alone expressed some sympathy with during pre budget consultations with then finance min ister John Turner in Schreyer proposed resorting to ancient British common restricting the provinces to a 30 per cent Royalty As thus leaving tax room for the National the thorny subject of title to what Ever resources lie under Hudson Bay arose Frances Russell again when Ottawa authorized new exploration in the Early on april in a letter to then Federal Energy minister Marc Manitoba Energy minister Wilson Parasiuk wrote you will be aware that Manitoba on Many claimed rights to those offshore resources within an appropriate Section of Hudson you May also recall that the provinces of Ontario and Quebec at one Point several years discussed the apportioning of Hud son Bay on a provincial while those negotiations were not i believe it fair to say that we Are prepared to resume those negotiations with the other provinces with a View towards cooperating with them for the orderly development of Petroleum resources in Hudson actions taken by the government of Canada last year in permitting exploration in Hudson Bay do in our confirm the right of the Federal government to owner ship of All resources within Hudson the involvement of Crown corporation of the Ontario government should not be construed As conferring Mineral rights to that we to hold the position that Manitoba should Benefit from the same arrangements for offshore resources As May be reached with other Lalonde and Parasiuk met june and later that Lalonde wrote the Manitoba he said the Nova Scotia agreement was specific to that province and while its general objectives of Energy Industrial develop ment and Canadian participation were applicable to All offshore i am not convinced that the circumstances now prevailing in Hudson Bay warrant the negotiation of a formal agreement at this i recognize that there would be value in instituting a consultation mechanism Between our two governments to review issues related to offshore resource management in Hudson on october Federal Deputy Energy minister Marshall Cohen wrote his Manitoba Marc proposing a meet ing and making this important i am anxious to ensure that hydrocarbon exploration in Hudson Bay proceeds in a manner that is fully congruent with Manitoba inter Between then and there were further exchanges of letters and a meeting Between Manitoba officials and personnel of the Canada Oil and Gas lands administration Ottawa exploration management but there was still no word from Ottawa on a formal on May the new Federal Energy Paul wrote Liesen to say consultative mechanisms should he continued it is my understanding that Canadas Legal position with regard to the Waters and resources of Hudson Bay is not in since that last the scene has changed dramatically while the supreme court has Given Canada jurisdiction Over the the new Mulroney government has virtually ceded it to new and a seven company including Crown companies from both Ontario and is to launch a million exploration venture in the Manitoba Section of the Bay this in an interview last Liesen said Manitoba has been in continuous negotiations with Ottawa and now is demanding a Newfoundland Ottawa has already met the provinces environmental and spinoff we Are fairly Liesen regardless of Manitoba past position favouring some Federal share in Liesen says the province would be foolish to argue against what other provinces have doonesbury by Garry Trudeau so youre Makking so wife Zuicky Guy Park ;