Source: The National Post:
When an Edmonton family went to court to fight a hospital’s plan to withdraw life-sustaining treatment from their deathly ill patriarch, the relatives cited Islamic law, as well as judicial precedent, to bolster their case.
In Winnipeg, siblings locked in a similar battle over their father’s care pointed to orthodox Jewish beliefs. A Halifax wife, meanwhile, pleaded that her husband should be prevented from dying long enough for a traditional Chinese healer to try to cure his cancer.
A string of legal disputes related to the treatment of horribly sick patients has drawn increasing interest, but one compelling aspect of the quarrels has been largely overlooked. Most of the battles involve patients from ethnic and religious minorities — frequently first-generation immigrants — and point to a cultural clash in Canada’s intensive-care units.
a challenge for Canada’s multicultural society. I hope they will cope with this.