By Canadian Press

Nicole Gladu, Quebec advocate of medical aid in dying, dies of natural causes

Apr 1, 2022 | 9:29 AM

MONTREAL — Nicole Gladu, the Quebec woman who fought to expand the right to medical aid in dying, has died of natural causes.

A death notice says Gladu, who suffered from an incurable degenerative disease called post‐poliomyelitis syndrome, died Sunday in Montreal.

In 2019, the Quebec Superior Court ruled in favour of Gladu and another incurably ill Quebecer, Jean Truchon, who had argued the laws on medical aid in dying were too restrictive and violated their rights to access the procedure.

The judge invalidated the Criminal Code requirement that a natural death be “reasonably foreseeable” before someone can be eligible for assisted death, and the judge also invalidated the provincial requirement that people be at the end of life.

A longtime friend of Gladu says the former journalist and trade unionist fought for fairness and justice, adding that she also loved life.

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Micheline Raymond says that as a result, Gladu never availed herself of a medically assisted death, despite her fight to gain access to one and her painful medical condition.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2022.

The Canadian Press