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Saturday, October 20, 2018 | Your community newspaper since ince 1916
Residents taking advantage of assisted dying Christine HINZMANN Citizen staff chinzmann@pgcitizen.ca Since medical assistance in dying became legal in Canada on June 17, 2016, 59 people within the Northern Health region have used the service. Within the province and its five health authorities that number is considered typical and 74 per cent of those who used the service within Northern Health are those who had an original diagnosis of cancer, followed by cardiovascular disease and respiratory issues, like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Medical assistance in dying provides patients, who may be experiencing intolerable suffering due to a grievous and irremediable (incurable) medical condition, the option to end their life with the assistance of a doctor or nurse practitioner, according to the province of British Columbia website. Between males and females, it’s almost an even split, with 56 per cent being male and the average age of the 59 people who used the service was 72. There was only one request where the person died before they were able to receive the assistance and that person made the request to be at a lake when the end of their life came. About half were at home at the time of their death, while others were in hospital, in palliative care, or in seniors residences. People in B.C. wishing to use assisted dying can choose between an intravenous method or two oral choices using different medications. The two options for oral medications came about when secobarbital was not available in Canada when assisted dying became legal in 2016 and then was recently made available. Northern Health’s medical assistance in dying care coordinator Kirsten Thomson said that will eventually change to one oral medication choice of secobarbital, which is
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Kirsten Thomson is the medical assistance in dying care coordinator for Northern Health. faster than the other cocktail of medications used to end life. Those who want to consider assisted dying should speak to their family physician for more information. Two practitioners in two different interviews need to agree to the request once a person puts it in writing. There is a 10-day waiting period, to ensure the person can reflect upon their choice. “From my perspective the program is
being received well,” said Thomson, who believes that some people are still not aware that medically assisted dying is an option in Canada. “I think as we continue to provide the service – not just in Northern Health – but across the board, it becomes a more normalized part of the care continuum,” she said. “Everyone is committed to making this an extraordinarily patient-and-family-centred experience,” she added.
“From the physicians to nursing staff who are supporting the person and even the pharmacists who are dispensing the medications are really working as part of a team to make sure the experience for the individual and their family is what they want it to be.” For more information about medical assistance in dying, visit northernhealth. ca or email maid@northernhealth.ca or call 250-645-6417.
Firms seek to fill bus void Where to vote on election Jennifer SALTMAN Vancouver Sun With Greyhound’s departure from B.C. less than two weeks away, three companies have received approval to operate new bus routes between Vancouver, Kamloops, Kelowna and the Alberta border. Greyhound announced in July that it would pull out of B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and northern Ontario at the end of October, after suffering millions of dollars in losses from a 46-per-cent drop in ridership since 2010. Only a bus route between Vancouver and Seattle will continue. In order to restore service to people who will be affected by the service cancellation, B.C.’s Passenger Transportation Board – which is responsible for approving inter-city bus routes – is “fast-tracking” applications and using a simplified process to encourage operators to fill the gap on routes that will be abandoned by Greyhound. According to the board, “Greyhound’s departure from B.C. will leave many areas of the province without inter-city bus service and access to essential services, such as work and education, and safe transportation.” The first to be approved was an application from Regina-based Rider Express Transportation, which plans to operate a route from the Alberta border to Vancouver via Highway 1 and Highway 5. There will be 14 stops, including Golden, Salmon Arm, Chase, Merritt and Langley. It will be a reservation-based service that runs seven days a week, with two departure times each day. It will use four, 55-passenger wheelchair-accessible
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buses on the route. Rider Express eventually plans to run service between B.C., Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario. Alberta-based Diversified Transportation, doing business as Ebus, proposes adding two routes serving Vancouver, Kamloops and Kelowna. The Vancouver-Kamloops route would provide daily semi-express departures from Vancouver and Kamloops – one in the morning and one in the afternoon or evening. Buses will travel along Highway 1 and Highway 5, and additional stops could be made in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Hope and Merritt. There would also be two daily express departures from both Vancouver and Kamloops via Kelowna in the morning and afternoon. The first leg of the trip will be between Kamloops and Kelowna along Highway 1 and 97, via Vernon, and the second leg is between Kelowna and Vancouver along Highway 97C, Highway 5 and Highway 1. Bookings for the reservation-only service will be made via website, over the phone and in person. Diversified already offers transportation services in five provinces and one territory. John Stepovy, director of business development with Ebus, said the company is moving “full steam ahead” and hopes to be up and running by Nov. 1, so there is no interruption in service when Greyhound withdraws. “We’re about two weeks away from Nov. 1, so it’s certainly going to be a challenge for us, absolutely, to get going but as things sit right now that’s still our plan,” he said. — see MULTIPLE COMPANIES, page 3
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day – and who is running Citizen staff General voting day for civic elections is today and schools and community halls in and around the city will be the places to cast ballots. All polls, both in the city and Fraser-Fort George Regional District, are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Those living within Prince George can vote in the races for city council at the following locations: Blackburn Elementary School, D.P. Todd Secondary School, Edgewood Elementary School, École Lac des Bois, John McInnis Centre, Kelly Road Secondary School, Malaspina Elementary School, Ron Brent Elementary School and Vanway Elementary School. Running for the mayor’s seat on city council are Lyn Hall and Willy Enns and running for one of eight spots as a councillor are Frank Everitt, Viv Fox, Garth
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Frizzell, Dave Fuller, Murry Krause, Terri McConnachie, Cori Ramsay, Kyle Sampson, Susan Scott, Paul Serup, Brian Skakun, Cameron Stolz, and Chris Wood.
School board Running for one of five seats on school board representing Area One – Prince George are Betty Bekkering, Tim Bennett, Trent Derrick, Sarah Holland, Trudy Klassen, Allan Kranz, Stephanie Mikalishen-Deol, Ron Polillo, Corey Walker, Sharel Warrington and Bruce Wiebe. Within city limits, the same polling stations open for the city council race will accept votes for the Area One election. Area One also covers Electoral Areas A,C, D, F and the southeast corner of G (south of McLeod Lake and Carp Lake Provincial Park) in the Fraser-Fort George Regional District. — see REGIONAL, page 3
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