Marielle Houle has been given a sentence of three years’ probation for assisting her son Charles Fariala to die.
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will be asking the new minister of justice, once named, to review the Houle’s sentence. EPC said it understands the health condition of Houle, but it recognizes that if there is no deterrent for the act of assisted suicide, there may be others who will follow her lead.
The EPC said Houle should have been charged with second-degree murder or manslaughter, because, according to the evidence, she placed a plastic bag over her son’s head and tied it tight. By doing so, she didn’t simply assist in the act, but committed it, which is defined as murder in the Canadian Criminal Code.
Fariala was experiencing the early stages of multiple sclerosis and according to his friends, seemed very depressed. The EPC said he needed emotional and psychological support from his mother, not death.
