Dr. Jocelyn Downie, Canada Research chairwoman of health law and policy and professor of law and medicine at Dalhousie University, said there is no legal precedent that gives doctors the authority to remove a patient's feeding tube or ventilator against their wishes or to decide whether they meet a "minimum goal" to continue living.

She said judges in previous court cases involving do-not-resuscitate orders haven't ruled whether this power lies with doctors. The question of who decides, Downie said, is still wide open before the courts.

Downie's comments run counter to new guidelines issued by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba in February that say the final decision on whether to pull the plug on a patient rests with the doctor.

Those guidelines were also rejected by Judge Perry Schulman, who last February ordered Winnipeg’s Salvation Army Grace Hospital to continue treatment of 84-year-old Samuel Golubchuk.  Hospital doctors want to euthanise Mr Golubchuk, but his family insists that would contradict their Orthodox Jewish beliefs.

Dr Downie hits the nail on the head here:

"You are deciding as physicians what lives are worth living, and that's a moral judgment, it's not a medical judgment," Downie said. "It just goes too far, and that's dangerous."

Exactly.  Doctors lack the moral competence to decide whose life is worth living and whose isn’t.

Dr Bill Pope, the college’s registrar, disagrees with Dr Downie, claiming that Manitoba courts have accorded doctors the right to pull the plug against a patient’s wishes.  No supporting court citation is quoted, and that view flies in the face of Judge Schulman’s ruling that the hospital must maintain Mr Golubchuk’s treatment pending a full court hearing on his case.

Previous related post: Doctors ordered to keep Sam Golubchuk on life support

Alagalak said hunters there believe tourism practices around Churchill, Man., may be leading to fewer, thinner, less healthy polar bears in his region. That's in contrast to how they looked before: "a nice look, like nice and fat and healthy and strong," he said Friday.

Scientists have said that the bears have seen a drop in weight, health and population due to shrinking sea ice that is going out earlier and coming in later, leaving starving bears on the shore.

But residents in and around Arviat believe polar bears are also following tourism activities in Churchill, especially the smells coming from tourists and operators, Alagalak said.

We get lots of tourists in Yukon and I’ve never noticed that they give off any particular smell, but no doubt polar bears have very sensitive olfactories.

As a result, he added, the bears are lingering in Churchill instead of migrating north, where the ice comes in earlier and they put on weight by hunting for more nutritious food.

"They're trying to wait out for the people to leave to try and find what they're smelling … maybe it's causing the bears to lose fat," Alagalak said.

Eco-tourism may not be so environmentally friendly after all.

Previous related posts:

• Loss of sea ice unlikely to endanger polar bears
• Ask a polar bear
• Environmentalist power trip inflicts collateral damage on Inuit people

A Winnipeg judge has ruled that 84-year-old Samuel Golubchuk cannot be removed from a ventilator and feeding tube pending a full trial in the dispute between his family and Salvation Army Grace Hospital.  Doctors decided last November to euthanasise Mr Golubchuk, an Orthodox Jew, after concluding that his chances of recovery were small.  His children, however, strongly protested, saying such an action would go against their religious convictions.  At that time, Judge Perry Schulman granted a temporary injunction prohibiting doctors from taking him off life support.

In today’s ruling, Judge Schulman directly contradicted the position of the Manitoba College of Physicians and Surgeons, who recently arrogated to themselves sole discretion over provision of medical treatment.

Schulman ruled Wednesday that the hospital has no avenues to mediate the dispute, so the case must now go to trial, for which he will make himself available as soon as possible. Until the outcome, Golubchuk will remain on life support.

"…it is not settled in law that … the physician has the final say," said Schulman.

Under guidelines established by the College of Physicians two weeks ago, doctors in Manitoba were given new rules about how to decide to take someone off of life support. The new rules say that doctors must consult family members if they can't communicate with the patient, but the ultimate decision is up to doctors about when to take someone off life support. The family, however, must be given a four-day notice before treatment is ended.

Lawyer Neil Kravetsky, who represents the Golubchuk family, said the College should revise their guidelines.

Got that right!  Bill Pope, the college’s registrar, said earlier that the college would indeed re-consider its guidelines if the judge ruled in favour of the family.  Now let’s see if that actually happens.

The family also reports that Mr Golubchuk’s condition has improved significantly.

Miriam Geller said that her father, Sam Golubchuk, who is unwittingly at the centre of a precedent-setting court case, is now “being weaned off life support” and “is awake and holding our hands.”

“The nurses have him up in a cardiac chair every day a couple of times a day for two to three hours” and “a physiotherapist comes in regularly to do arm and leg exercises,” she added.

Expert doctors have filed affidavits on behalf of the family, saying there is no evidence that Mr Golubchuk is dying or close to brain death.  Hospital doctors maintain that he has had “a complete loss of consciousness”.

The hospital has not yet decided whether to appeal today’s ruling.

Prevous related post: Samuel Golubchuk in danger of being euthanised

Canada’s national media are hardly covering the story, so we get a report from American columnist Jonathan Rosenblum.

A Winnipeg case currently winding its way to its grim conclusion pits the children of Samuel Golubchuk against doctors at the Salvation Army Grace General Hospital. According to the pleadings, Golubchuk's doctors informed his children that their 84-year-old father is "in the process of dying" and that they intended to hasten the process by removing his ventilation, and if that proved insufficient to kill him quickly, to also remove his feeding tube. In the event that the patient showed discomfort during these procedures, the chief of the hospital's ICU unit stated in his affidavit that he would administer morphine.

Golubchuk is an Orthodox Jew, as are his children. The latter have adamantly opposed his removal from the ventilator and feeding tube, on the grounds that Jewish law expressly forbids any action designed to shorten life, and that if their father could express his wishes, he would oppose the doctors acting to deliberately terminate his life.

In response, the director of the ICU informed Golubchuk's children that neither their father's wishes nor their own are relevant, and he would do whatever he decided was appropriate.

The ICU director’s edict is backed by Dr. Jeff Blackner, executive director of the office of “ethics” of the Canadian Medical Association.

Who told doctors they have sole authority over who gets treated and who doesn’t?

As Wesley J. Smith points out, the determination to kill Mr Golubchuk over the strong moral objections of his family flies in the face of lip service paid to “choice” in other medical controversies, such as abortion and assisted suicide.  It’s not about choice; it’s about “putting certain people out of our collective misery”.

In November, the family obtained a temporary court injunction preventing the euthanasia of Sam Golubchuk.  A judge is scheduled to decide tomorrow whether doctors will be allowed to begin starving and dehydrating him to death.  In the meantime, it is reported that his condition is improving.

As a final irony, Mr Golubchuk is a patient at the Salvation Army Grace Hospital.  The devil must be having a good laugh over that.

Sam Golubchuk’s family has set up a website publicising his situation and asking for donations to defray their legal expenses. Hospital lawyers working to have him killed are funded by the taxpayers.

Previous related post: Michael Schiavo, Guardian Of The Year

UPDATE (13 Feb.): Hallelujah! A judge has ruled that Mr Golubchuk must be kept on life support pending a full trial. 

Rev. Yvette Shank, president of the church's Canadian office in Toronto, said the church plans to undertake a major refurbishing of the 115-year-old Peck Building, which it quietly acquired last March for a previously unheard of price for the Exchange of $2.2 million.

"We love it," Shank said of the six-storey, brick-and-stone building at the northeast corner of Princess Street and Notre Dame Avenue. "When we're finished with it, it will be a beautiful building."

Shank said the church expects to spend between $7.5 million and $10 million to refurbish the 50,000-square-foot-plus building. It hopes to complete planning by the end of this year "and that will dictate our schedule" for renovations.

A word to the wise for readers from Winnipeg: Be wary of anyone who believes the nonsense taught by that lunatic sect.

In related news, despite Google’s efforts to stop google-bombing, the official Scientology site appears first on a search for “dangerous cult”.

Source of Peck Building photo: Virtual Heritage Winnipeg

h/t: Religion News Blog, which keeps an archive of recent Scientology news stories here

Previous related post: Tom Cruise revises A Charlie Brown Christmas

At a recent economic development summit, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs resolved to negotiate revenue sharing with MTS for transmissions signals that cross the land, water and air space of their reserves and traditional territories.

"[The request is] based on the understanding that we do have some fundamental rights as indigenous people to land, water and airspace," said Chief Ovide Mercredi of the Grand Rapids First Nation.

"When it comes to using airspace, it's like using our water and simply because there's no precedent doesn't mean that it's not the right thing to do," he said.

In fact, of course, using airspace to send cell phone signals is very different from using land for food or water for drinking.  If someone occupies your land to grow their crops or hunt their food, you are thereby prevented from using that land.  If someone drinks or pollutes your water, that water is unavailable for your drinking needs.

Using your airspace to send telecommunication signals, however, has no effect on your use of that airspace.  Others can send as many signals as they wish, and the quantity of airspace available to you is undiminished.  In fact, absent high-tech telecommmunication-monitoring equipment, how would the chiefs even know whether someone is sending cell phone signals through their airspace?

If negotiations with Manitoba Telecom Services reach an impasse, I’d like to see the chiefs try a blockade.

h/t: Darcey at Dust My Broom

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• Aboriginal protests are our own fault
• Promoting aboriginal self-reliance

The issue was raised at the diocesan Synod meeting last October.  After contentious debate, a motion expressing opposition to the bishop’s policy of excluding the Manitoba branch of Anglican Essentials from churches in the Diocese of Brandon was passed in a secret ballot vote.

An observer at the Synod meeting reported that Bp Njegovan gave his concurrence to the motion.

Bishop Njegovan gave his assent to all acts of Synod. Also, in a sincere and impassioned manner, the Bishop stated his love for the Diocese and all of its constituent members. He declared that he has never intended to harm anyone in his actions and apologised to anyone who felt so hurt.

It now emerges that, in a confidential letter to diocesan clergy dated 2 November, the bishop appeared to reaffirm his old exclusionary policy.

“I also feel I need to comment on Resolution #14 concerning ‘Essentials Meetings’ in parishes with consent of the Corporation. I hope that I do not need to remind you that in your ordination promises you state that you will respect and be guided by the pastoral direction and leadership of your bishop. As licensed clergy you also swear Oaths and Subscriptions, one of which states, ‘I will pay true and canonical obedience to the Bishop of Brandon in all things lawful and honest. So help me God.’ I also trust that you are all fully aware of my position and pastoral direction with regard to Essentials Manitoba; if you are not, please feel free to speak with me about it. To date no one has shown me any example of how Essentials Manitoba or Essentials Canada is building up the family of God within this Diocese of Brandon or within the National Church and I see it doing just the opposite. From my perspective, it operates from [a] secular political model, not a Church one, but enough said.”

With all due respect, sorry, but that’s not enough.  What exactly do you mean by that?

When asked to comment by Anglican Planet, the bishop offered this clarification brush-off.

“My intention was that it was a confidential letter between bishop and clergy. My assent to the Resolutions of our 43rd Synod was given and has not been withdrawn. If there is confusion, my clergy are welcome to speak to me directly.”

But the rest of you lowly pew-warmers can take a hike.

The results of voting on controversial motions at Brandon Synod indicate that laity are more sympathetic to Anglican Essentials concerns than are clergy.  Given that, Bp Njegovan’s stonewalling of ordinary Anglicans would appear likely to discourage mutual trust and open dialogue in his diocese.

h/t: Binks

Previous related post: Banned in Brandon

He is survived by his wife, Virginia, three sons — Matthew, 21, and 19-year-old twins, Brandon and Jared — and his parents, who live in his birthplace of New York City. The family declined to be interviewed.

"Some of his last words this week were that he considered his family his greatest accomplishment among all of his others," said Rev. Larry Gregan, Lehotsky's colleague at New Life Ministries on Maryland Street.

"I think that speaks volumes about him, to have had such a public life and time-consuming work and not lose sight of his first priorities."

A funeral will be held Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at Calvary Temple.

Harry moved to Winnipeg from the US 23 years ago, after he graduated from North American Baptist Seminary, South Dakota.   He was Pastor and co-founder of New Life Ministries, Maryland Street, Winnipeg.

Although he received many official accolades, Harry especially appreciated personal thanks from those he had helped.

A mural was unveiled in his honour in July.  However, Lehotsky said that flowers sent from a former prostitute and a letter from a drug dealer meant just as much to him.

The dealer, Lehotsky said, wrote to say: "I just want to let you know, especially now you're going through this, that your prayers have been answered: I'm in jail but I've got my head around doing better now."

"That, to me, is awesome," Lehotsky said.

Harry Lehotsky was, by all accounts, an exemplary and inspiring servant of Christ.  May our Lord bless and keep his family in this time of mourning.

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” — St John 11:25-26

Previous related posts:

• Harry Lehotsky testifies
• Rev Harry Lehotsky diagnosed with terminal cancer
• Religious hypocrisy in Canada

Kisilowsky filed a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission in 2004 after the province informed all marriage commissioners — once gay unions became legal — that they had to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies or hand in their licences.

Kisilowsky argued he was being discriminated against because the province refused to accommodate his religious beliefs.

But the commission disagreed and dismissed his case.

So he's appealing in court and hearings could start as early as next year.

Here’s a question: Why are churches and other organized religious bodies allowed to refuse to marry homosexuals, whereas individuals like Mr Kisilowsky are not?  Does the Charter’s freedom of religion clause apply only to ordained clergy?

What’s more, until recently, Manitoba marriage commissioners were not actually required to marry anyone.

Marriage commissioners are not civil servants. In fact, anybody over the age of 18 can get a marriage commissioner licence, even a temporary one for the weekend.

The licence simply allows the person to solemnize a marriage.

They're not forced to do any marriages — except same-sex ones, according to the province.

So, here’s another question: Why has Manitoba mandated special treatment for homosexuals?

h/t: LifeSite News.

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• Religious hypocrisy in Canada
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How does a Christian man with a wife and children deal with the realisation that he is apparently going to die prematurely?  It would, I would think, be natural for Harry to suppose that an effective public advocate for the poor and unfortunate—i.e., someone like him—should be spared a painful, early death.  Based on decades of work in which he has repeatedly put the needs of others ahead of his own, he might be justified in concluding that he and his family deserve better.  Instead, however, he reacts with grace, humility, and thankfulness for what God has given.

My life is no more or less important than those multitudes of fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, lovers and partners that have received similar news. They too were loved and needed by those around them.

My life and efforts have been quite public, especially some of my achievements, advocacy, risks and sacrifices. But the public nature of my work makes me no more important than the many who struggle in relative silence, faithful to every one of their responsibilities and loved ones.

Is he mad at God?  Does he feel that the Almighty has dealt unfairly with him?  No: he is humbled by the undeserved goodness he has received from our Lord’s hand.

People have asked whether I'm mad at God.

If I was, I'm sure He could handle it. It wouldn't be the first time a loving parent dealt graciously with the confusion of an angry child.

But as I searched my jumbled emotions, I honestly couldn't detect a shred of anger against God. How could I be angry with the One who has given me more than I ever asked or imagined? I've received immeasurably more than I deserved.

During my teens, there was a period in which I spurned the love and example of my family. My random acts of stupidity and cruelty hurt many people around me. At one point, my pursuit of delusions resulted in an overdose. Fading fast, my "friends" were afraid of being stuck with a dead body, so they rolled me out of the car and left me by the curb.

I was rescued, ironically by one of the police officers I used to call a "pig." In hospital, I promised God the rest of my life if he got me through that day. He did, and I've had 32 years of a second chance to do better.

But it wasn't just about doing better. I've experienced a forgiveness beyond anything I deserved, and opportunities and hope I could never have manipulated for myself. All this from the hands of my loving Saviour. How could I be angry with the One who has given so much?

I know Rev Harry only through his writings and news reports of his activities, but based on that, he appears as a great man of God and a saint for our time.  What he writes today is nothing less than inspirational.  Read the whole thing.

A prayer of American Baptist minister and theologian Walter Rauschenbusch, whose work inspired Harry in his:

O God, grant us a vision of this city, fair as it might be: a city of justice, where none shall prey upon the other; a city of plenty, where vice and poverty shall cease to fester; a city of brotherhood, where success is founded on service; and honor shall be given to nobleness alone; a city of peace, where order shall not rest on force, but on the love of all for each and all.

Previous related post: Rev Harry Lehotsky diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Well known minister and outspoken activist Harry Lehotsky, who has spent years fighting drugs, crime and disrepair in Winnipeg's West End neighbourhood, now has another struggle ahead of him, this one for his life.

Lehotsky was diagnosed Monday with pancreatic cancer, which has spread to his liver, spleen and other organs. He says his doctors have told him his cancer is inoperable and have given him six weeks to nine months to live.

"Oh, man, you think, 'Why me?' and then the next thing you think is, 'Why not me? What makes me different from anybody else?' There's mothers and fathers, daughters and sons that die of cancer and so many other things. I mean, we're all finite. So I think about that," he told CBC News on Tuesday.

"If God chooses to do a miracle, that'd be awesome and I'd be very pleased and thankful. If not, what I've been living for my whole life is just the ability to meet Him one day and for Him to say, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'"

Rev Lehotsky writes a weekly column for the Winnipeg Sun, the most recent of which is posted here.  He says he will continue in the work to which our Lord has called him for as long as he is able.

Lehotsky, 48, is well known because of his work to discourage violence, gangs, drugs and other problems that plague his neighbourhood.

He's been a vocal resident of the West End for 24 years, establishing New Life Ministries and raising three sons with his wife, Virginia.
. . .
He's drawing strength from his family and prayers. He's vowing to remain positive and continue working to help and guide people.

Lehotsky said he is not going to take off his writer's cap because he thinks his weekly column will be therapeutic.

Published Sundays, his thought-provoking columns revolve around raw issues such as prostitution, violence and drugs.

They pressure political leaders and suburban Winnipeggers to pay attention to the plight of people living in the city's core.

Please pray for him, his wife, and three sons as they face this time of trial.  God be with you, Harry.

CBC Manitoba link via Dust My Broom.

Other bloggers with today's news about Harry:

• Smalldeadanimals
• Muttering in Manitoba

Harry recently discussed his travails getting diagnostic health care in Manitoba.  He was in such agony from abdominal pain that he finally went to a doctor in North Dakota.

Rev Lehotsky was born in New York City and has lived in Winnipeg since 1983.  He received his M.Div. from North American Baptist Seminary, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in 1982 and is ordained by the North American Baptist Conference.  More biographical information can be found here.  The website of New Life Ministries has a great deal of detailed information on their community service work, philosophy of urban ministry, and theological beliefs.

I blogged one of his columns here.

UPDATE (21 May): Harry Lehotsky testifies.

UPDATE (12 Nov.): Harry Lehotsky succumbs to cancer.

Late at night, a hydro employee rigged out with spurs is climbing a pole and nailing up campaign posters for the incumbent chief. Only in Norway House, I mutter, and wonder if the utility knows its employee is participating in what people are referring to as the battle of the telephone poles.

New furniture, appliances, and cash were handed out with abandon.

Challenger Marcel Balfour, dissident band councillor, had previously been subjected to official harassment.

Insisting on transparency and accountability on the council, Balfour lost his salary and his office, band agents seized his home computer, and he was arrested when he vigorously defended his rights. Balfour recently won two important court cases against his fellow council members, but they refused to obey the rulings and now face contempt-of-court charges.

Band employees were told that they'd all be fired if Mr Balfour won the election.

Despite rampant corruption, on 16 March Balfour defeated Muskego by 942 votes to 903.  Also, Balfour's ally on council won re-election with the highest vote total of all candidates in the race.

Eric Apetagon, the only council member who did not abandon Balfour during his long battle with [former chief Ron] Evans and his quorum, also won re-election. He walked away with a vote of confidence never before seen in Norway House, more than 1,300 votes.

Elected office is not for sale in Norway House.  Now chief Balfour has an opportunity to make fundamental changes in band governance for the good of his people.

Darcey at Dust My Broom has more on the travails of former chief Ron Evans, who received "a blistering criticism" last month from a federal court judge who ruled that Evans and his colleagues "undermined democracy and blackmailed a fellow band councillor".  (That would be Marcel Balfour.)  Mr Evans has since been elevated to Grand Chief, Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, but there may be more fall-out from his activities while chief at Norway House Cree Nation.