The Canadian Association of Retired Persons, Canada’s largest organization for seniors, dismissed Susan Eng, executive vice-president of advocacy at CARP Canada for the past eight years, apparently because she was “insubordinate,” but more likely because she did not toe the now officially pro-euthanasia position of the organization. CARP is run by media magnate Moses Znaimer, a founding patron of Dying with Dignity Canada and longtime vocal proponent of legalizing euthanasia. Eng’s replacement is Wanda Morris, the head of Dying with Dignity Canada. There can be no mistaking the direction of the organization or the reasons for Eng’s firing, precisely at a time when parliament is debating assisted suicide and CARP’s voice on the issue will be influential in the public debate.
Eng, to be clear, was not pro-life on the matter. Rather, she insisted CARP be neutral. Eng told the Globe and Mail, “the only reason he fired me was so that they can put out an official position for CARP saying that they want to insist on assisted dying on demand.” In Znaimer’s press release announcing the change, he praised the work of Morris as “CEO of Dying with Dignity Canada (DWD Canada) where she led a strategic campaign for legislative change leading up to the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in the ground-breaking Carter v. Canada case for the right-to-die with dignity.” What Znaimer failed to mention is that under Morris, Dying with Dignity broadened its position from being pro-assisted suicide to full bore for euthanasia and that last year the organization lost its charitable status when Revenue Canada determined it was no longer an educational charity but a political advocacy group.
While officially it has no position on end-of-life issues, effectively CARP is joining Dying with Dignity in getting fully behind euthanasia. But, is that why it’s 300,000 members joined the organization? Many are merely seeking some travel insurance and other benefits. They did not join a political advocacy group, especially one at odds with their values and principles. We encourage members of CARP to cancel their memberships and let the board of CARP know why. If people want to join a euthanasia advocacy group, there’s Death with Dignity. American seniors have an alternative to the liberal American Association of Retired Persons in the more conservative Association of Mature American Citizens. It is time for an AMCC.
