Last updated on: 7/30/2009 | Author: ProCon.org

Russel Ogden, MA Biography

Title:
Criminology Instructor, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
Position:
Pro to the question "Should Euthanasia or Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legal?"
Reasoning:

“I submit that it is cruel and inhumane to refuse individuals trapped in a private holocaust access to a compassionate release in a manner consistent with their moral beliefs and personal values…

People who do not ask for euthanasia will not have it. Individuals are autonomous, entitlted to equality and justice, and self-determined. The right to choose is theirs and that is a choice that must always be respected.”

“The Right to Die: A Rejoinder to Bruce Wilkinson’s Critique,” Canadian Public Policy, 1995
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Criminology Instructor, Kwantlen Polytechnic University
  • Member, British Columbia Civil Liberties Association
  • Former Member, British Columbia Association of Social Workers
  • Recipient, Celebration of Excellence award, Surrey Campus, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 2006
  • Recipient, Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy, 1995
Education:
  • PhD candidate, University of Groningen (Holland)
  • MA, Criminology, Simon Fraser University (Canada), 1994
  • BGS (Bachelor of General Studies), Simon Fraser University
  • BSW (Bachelor of Social Work), University of Victoria
Other:
  • Was a claimant in Russel Ogden v. Simon Fraser University (Provincial Court of British Columbia, June 10, 1998), a case resulting from Odgen’s failure to provide the Vancouver Coroner with evidence of an assisted suicide mentioned in his Master’s thesis; Odgen cited a promised confidentiality of those interviewed for the thesis; he became the first researcher in Canada ever to have researcher-participant privilege recognized in common law.
Quoted in:
  1. Do Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide Ensure a Good Death?