Winnipeg rally aims to keep doctor-assisted dying in spotlight

About a dozen people rallied outside the Winnipeg courthouse on Wednesday to show their support of physician-assisted dyingand call for elected officials to keep the issue a priority.

The members of Dying with Dignity Canada held signs outside the Law Courts during the noon hour as part of a national day of action.

Sherry Marginet, who is part of the group, says politicians should keep patient rights as a top priority, especially with the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on physician-assisted suicide expected to come into effect in three months.

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Marginet said patients who face unendurable suffering should "be able to choose to end their life and do it in, we're hoping, a physician-assisted way."

"It is not something that is done lightly and it's a decision that each person makes for themselves, not someone making a decision for another person," she added.

The top court ruled in February that people with grievous and irremediable medical conditions should have the right to ask a doctor to help them die.

The ruling only applies to competent adults with enduring, intolerable suffering who clearly consent to ending their lives.

The Supreme Court has given federal and provincial governments 12 months to craft legislation to respond to the ruling; the current ban on doctor-assisted suicide stands until then.

Marginet said the group wants the new Liberal federal government to make sure patients have safe, timely and equitable access to physician-assisted dying when the new legislation comes into effect in February 2016.