John Hofsess admits to helping eight Canadians end their lives
On Feb. 29, 2016, a prominent Canadian right to die advocate chose to end his life in a clinic in Basel, Switzerland. Immediately following his death, the Toronto-based publication, Toronto Life Magazine, published his posthumous confession entitled “By the time you read this, I’ll be dead.” In it, Hofsess confesses to helping eight Canadians end their lives between 1999-2001.
In 1991, five years after the suicide of a friend, Hofsess founded the Right to Die Society of Canada. Hofsess had previously written an impassioned and, in his own words, idealistic, essay advocating for a human being’s right to choose the circumstances of their death. Upon reading the article, his friend, diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s, asked Hofsess for assistance in taking his own life. Unable to convert words into actions, Hofsess declined. His friend jumped from the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal into winter waters. Hofsess writes, “The desperation of his suicide altered me in ways I did not fully realize at the time.”
Of the eight Canadians Hofsess assisted, one was famous poet, Al Purdy. Purdy had, until recently, reportedly died of natural causes. Hofsess writes of his reluctance to become an activist. Initially, he focused on repealing laws and issuing challenges in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In 1992, Hofsess and his fellows tried to strike down Section 241(b) of the criminal code, which made assisted suicide a criminal offence. The Supreme Court of Canada rejected the challenge in a 5-4 ruling. In 1999, Hofsess’s horror was renewed when Georg Tinter, a conductor suffering from a rare form of Melanoma, leapt to his death from his 11th-floor apartment balcony in Halifax. Hofsess writes, “That year, I went from advocating for assisted suicides to facilitating them.”
[pullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]…tried to strike down Section 241(b) of the criminal code…[/pullquote]
Hofsess created an underground assisted death service that offered non-medical ways of dying to members of the society. Hofsess spent years researching how to end a person’s life in a “quick, painless, and spiritually pleasing way.” He worked with engineers, physicians, and activists. Hofsess writes that when one has power over their own death, they can remove death’s sting. Instead of passively accepting death, Hofsess argues, we are the master of it. After Hofsess’s partner was accused of helping to administer assisted suicide, Hofsess was forced to stop his actions. In February 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled unanimously that a general prohibition of physician-assisted suicide was unconstitutional.
Hofsess, diagnosed with two terminal illnesses, chose to fly to Switzerland to end his life. Accompanying him was his friend and fellow advocate Michael Irwin. Hofsess worked on a manuscript for much of the day before deciding it was time. He played his favourite music and had some ice cream. His official time of death was 4:45 p.m. In Hofsess’s own words, “I killed people who wanted to die.” Hofsess, at peace with the knowledge that he had helped many alleviate their suffering, died at the age of 78.