The Ontario Humanist Society publishes a quarterly newsletter to let members know what is happening in their organization and in the world of humanism. Please let us know if you are not receiving this newsletter, and you wish to do so. You may wish to distribute copies of this newsletter at your meetings or for other events, as well.
Latest Issue
Previous Issues
OHS Newsletter Spring 2011
OHS Newsletter Winter 2010
From the latest issue…
I am writing this message to OHS members and friends as I pack up 30 years of my life preparing to go west from the Town of Streetsville to the City of Hamilton…My concern is what the future holds going forward and I am moving closer to my children so that they can manage the end result without having to
dispose of my goods (a lifetime of clutter) as well as my last remains. The goods have gone to garage sales now. As to my demise, I have a plan: ‘dying with dignity.’
This is a euphemism that first surfaced with the hospice movement where it meant having excellent pain control so that one might live comfortably to the last moment. It has come to mean the choice to end
one’s own life with assisted suicide in the face of terminal illness, unbearable pain and the loss of oneself in
dementia. The struggle for this right is playing out in three challenges now before the British Columbia courts led by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association and the Farewell Foundation.
Dying with Dignity Canada (DWD) worked closely with BCCL in the preparation of their case and appeared with the Farewell Foundation in B.C. Provincial Court DWD’s interest in these cases to present the scope of interested parties. OHS has an interest in supporting Dying with Dignity Canada as they challenge the laws that constrain our choices in what is, in fact, a personal choice about our health and self-determination over our
own bodies. In a recent letter to members, they quoted Sue Rodriguez who in a landmark case before the Supreme Court asked “Who owns my life?” She was denied the right to assisted suicide.
Let us hope that the current cases have a better outcome in respect of our human rights. You can read about these cases on the DWD website. Please think about joining them as a member. DWD also provides comfort and
counselling to individuals and their families, who wish to plan ahead for the possibility of dementia or terminal illness.
Gail McCabe, PhD RSSW
President, Ontario Humanist Society
Message from the President
Dear OHS members, I bring you greetings from the OHS Board of Directors.
We want to welcome all the new members who have joined us and encourage all of our members to take a role in our evolving society. At our next Board meeting, we will have two new members appointed by the Board for the current term. They are Michael J. Wheeler and Ruth Henrich. I want to thank them for their willingness to serve and welcome them to the Board. Both of them come with outstanding skills that will serve our association well.
As a volunteer run association, we thrive and survive on the basis of our member’s contributions. And volunteer opportunities are as diverse as joining a Speaker’s Bureau, recruiting and coordinating volunteers; writing position papers, and publicizing humanist values and principles in local communities. You may have ideas, a special talent or ability that you want to develop and use to promote Humanist social movement. Here you have an opportunity to exercise your imagination and we will welcome those efforts.
Please save April 9th, the date of our AGM and join us for the meeting at 11:00am, followed by lunch and a forum with a panel discussion focusing on Global Youth and International Trends.
Possible topics include: rising expectations and social media; human rights and democratic values; change (and revolutionary change) and its consequences. The panel will be comprised of young adults, active in their GTA communities, who would be able to represent those countries in the process of significant change in terms of governance as it impacts all ways of life for its citizens at home and abroad.
OHS Member and associate professor in adult education and community development, OISE, Anne Goodman will moderate the panel. Professor Goodman is the Co-Director of the Transformative Learning Centre and President, Interchange: Institute for Community-based Peacebuilding. More program details to come.
In humanist fellowship,
Gail McCabe PhD RSSW
President, Ontario Humanist Society
president@ontariohumanists.ca
