Reframing MAiD in the Media: Rationalizing and Normalizing a New Mode of Dying in Canada by Jasmine Macaulay A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2019 Jasmine Macaulay i Abstract Through the examination of media discourse during three key periods from the 1990s to 2018, this thesis will demonstrate how Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) has historically, and is presently, being constructed in the Canadian mass media. This thesis will demonstrate how this reporting is impacting the nation's social consciousness, effectively normalizing and rationalizing the fledgling practice as a legitimate new mode of dying in Canada. Acknowledgements Many thanks my supervisor Jen Pylypa for her support, advice and willingness to take me on as a masters student despite being on leave, and her careful reading of a very long draft thesis. Thanks to Frances Slaney for guiding me through the first year and proposal phase of my masters, and for contributing to my understanding of the anthropology of death and dying. To Danny Rosenblatt, for his invaluable questions which fuelled the inevitable direction of this thesis. To Bernhard Leistle, for his membership on my committee and his valuable feedback. To Sally Sax and Sylvie Lafortune, library specialists at MacOdrum for assistance with sourcing sample data for this thesis and locating official parliamentary rulings. To Dr. Viren Naik, for his knowledge and support. To Dr. Stefanie Green, CAMAP, Bridge C-14 (Jan Ditch) and The Ottawa Hospital MAiD program (Mike Kekewich) for their early and continued support of this project. To Carleton University and the Department of Anthropology and SSHRC for funding opportunities which have made possible this research. ii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1 Definitions ........................................................................................................................................... 2 Background to Assisted Death in Canada ................................................................................. 4 Theoretical Frameworks ............................................................................................................... 7 Euthanasia Talk ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Discourse and Language .............................................................................................................................. 9 Self-Care and Final Gift ............................................................................................................................... 11 Normative Rationalization ........................................................................................................................ 12 Storytelling and Intersubjectivity .......................................................................................................... 14 Framing and the Canadian Media .......................................................................................................... 16 Methods ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Outline of Chapters ........................................................................................................................ 27 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................................... 29 Canadian Individualism, Rights and Medicare ..................................................................... 29 Official Government Discourse ............................................................................................................... 33 ‘Grievous and Irremediable Medical Condition’ .............................................................................. 36 SliPPery Slope and Conscientious Objection .................................................................................... 37 The Sociability of Death and Dying ........................................................................................... 38 Good and Bad Death .................................................................................................................................... 38 Social and Biological Death ...................................................................................................................... 40 ScriPts, Construction and Medicalized Death ................................................................................... 42 Palliative Care in Canada ............................................................................................................. 45 Suicide ................................................................................................................................................ 49 Survivor’s Stigma and Mourning ............................................................................................................ 51 Assisted Death in the Media and Academia ........................................................................... 52 Chapter 3: Assisted Death in the Canadian Press: the 1990s ................................ 60 Frame vs. Discourse ..................................................................................................................................... 62 Stigmatizing Language ............................................................................................................................... 64 1993 and 1994 - Footing and (Mis)Frame .............................................................................. 65 Religion - What Was Sayable? .................................................................................................................. 72 Official Government - What Was Sayable? ......................................................................................... 75 Messengers, Storytelling and Subjectivity ......................................................................................... 78 Sue Rodriguez ............................................................................................................................................................. 79 ErWin Krickhahn ....................................................................................................................................................... 81 Role of Media .................................................................................................................................................. 85 Self-Care and Final Gift ............................................................................................................................... 88 Chapter 4: Reframing Assisted Death in the Early 21st Century ........................... 91 2004 and 2005 – Frame Alignment & Transformation ...................................................... 91 2000s Language, Ambiguity and Confusion ...................................................................................... 94 Normative Rationalization, Frame AmPlification and Extension ............................................ 99 2016–2018 – Continued Frame Alignment and Normalization ................................... 103 Assisted Death Talk in Canada ............................................................................................................. 107 Language as a Barometer to Social Consciousness .................................................................................. 108 Carter vs. Canada ........................................................................................................................................ 111 Assisted Death Talk – Discourse as Procedural Rules ............................................................... 114 Personal Narratives .................................................................................................................................. 116 iii Assisted Death Talk - Social and Ontological ................................................................................. 118 Self-Care and Final Gift ............................................................................................................................ 126 Self Care ...................................................................................................................................................................... 127 Final Gift ..................................................................................................................................................................... 130 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 137 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 142 List of Tables Table 1: Euthanasia Definitions .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Table 2: Article Selection by Key Date .............................................................................................................................. 22 Table 3: The Framing of MAiD in Academia