03-14-2008, 06:40 PM
http://www.thestar.com/article/309347
Smiling girl loved music: The Tracy we never knew
Mar 08, 2008 04:30 AM
Helen Henderson
Tracy Latimer is remembered by her schoolteachers as a girl who loved music. They also remember her smile.
These are not characteristics the public has heard much about in the 15 years since her father placed her in the cab of his truck and piped in carbon monoxide.
Throughout his trials and retrials, convictions and appeals, Robert Latimer and his defence team have painted his daughter as a picture of misery and pain. The public image of Tracy is based on their words.
Now the Saskatchewan farmer, convicted of second-degree murder, is on day parole in the nation's capital, intent on lobbying for vindication.
Latimer argues he had no choice in putting Tracy out of her misery. He will continue to present his daughter's disabilities in ways that give credence to his beliefs. But there are other ways to look at what happened. Consider:
* In appealing his initial conviction, Latimer argued he "had the legal right to decide to commit suicide for his daughter, by virtue of her complete absence of physical and intellectual abilities."
That may be how he saw Tracy but it wasn't a view shared by the school day program she attended.
* Those who argue Latimer should have been given a constitutional exemption from the mandatory sentence emphasize that his case was unique. Thus, they contend, leniency would not set a dangerous precedent for people with disabilities.
Tracy was undoubtedly her own person but her family's situation was by no means unique.
Some 30,000 Canadians have cerebral palsy, many of them facing the same formidable disabilities as Tracy.
There is no indication Tracy wanted to die. Thousands of children wish to live in spite of the pain others view as unbearable. Like Tracy, they cannot walk, communicate verbally, feed or care for themselves. They live in big cities, small towns and remote rural settings. They deal with seizures, muscles that defy control and multiple surgeries. Their families struggle to cope in a society that offers far too little support.
Should we water down the Criminal Code or strengthen health and social services? What type of society are we?
* In reading transcripts of the Latimer trials, it's clear there was a profound misunderstanding of cerebral palsy.
Tracy did not have a terminal disease. Cerebral palsy is not progressive. It is a condition resulting from an injury to the brain, most commonly in the womb or at birth. The injury, sometimes caused by oxygen deprivation, affects muscle strength and control. Tight muscles can cause hip and spine problems.
Yet Justice Ted Noble, who wanted to grant Latimer a constitutional exemption, is among those who consistently referred to it as a "disease" or "illness."
* Latimer argues that only death could end his daughter's pain. Tracy couldn't be given adequate painkillers because they would cause an adverse reaction in combination with medication to help control her seizures, he says.
But critics say other people who take anti-convulsing medication do find compatible pain relief.
I have no doubt Robert Latimer loved his daughter. I have no doubt that, like the parents of any severely disabled child, he sometimes felt very alone.
I also have no doubt that Tracy Latimer is a victim twice over – once of murder and once of the injustice served by a society that can't see beyond the surface of disabilities and won't invest the resources that families need to nourish children who don't communicate or move or process information like the majority.
Smiling girl loved music: The Tracy we never knew
Mar 08, 2008 04:30 AM
Helen Henderson
Tracy Latimer is remembered by her schoolteachers as a girl who loved music. They also remember her smile.
These are not characteristics the public has heard much about in the 15 years since her father placed her in the cab of his truck and piped in carbon monoxide.
Throughout his trials and retrials, convictions and appeals, Robert Latimer and his defence team have painted his daughter as a picture of misery and pain. The public image of Tracy is based on their words.
Now the Saskatchewan farmer, convicted of second-degree murder, is on day parole in the nation's capital, intent on lobbying for vindication.
Latimer argues he had no choice in putting Tracy out of her misery. He will continue to present his daughter's disabilities in ways that give credence to his beliefs. But there are other ways to look at what happened. Consider:
* In appealing his initial conviction, Latimer argued he "had the legal right to decide to commit suicide for his daughter, by virtue of her complete absence of physical and intellectual abilities."
That may be how he saw Tracy but it wasn't a view shared by the school day program she attended.
* Those who argue Latimer should have been given a constitutional exemption from the mandatory sentence emphasize that his case was unique. Thus, they contend, leniency would not set a dangerous precedent for people with disabilities.
Tracy was undoubtedly her own person but her family's situation was by no means unique.
Some 30,000 Canadians have cerebral palsy, many of them facing the same formidable disabilities as Tracy.
There is no indication Tracy wanted to die. Thousands of children wish to live in spite of the pain others view as unbearable. Like Tracy, they cannot walk, communicate verbally, feed or care for themselves. They live in big cities, small towns and remote rural settings. They deal with seizures, muscles that defy control and multiple surgeries. Their families struggle to cope in a society that offers far too little support.
Should we water down the Criminal Code or strengthen health and social services? What type of society are we?
* In reading transcripts of the Latimer trials, it's clear there was a profound misunderstanding of cerebral palsy.
Tracy did not have a terminal disease. Cerebral palsy is not progressive. It is a condition resulting from an injury to the brain, most commonly in the womb or at birth. The injury, sometimes caused by oxygen deprivation, affects muscle strength and control. Tight muscles can cause hip and spine problems.
Yet Justice Ted Noble, who wanted to grant Latimer a constitutional exemption, is among those who consistently referred to it as a "disease" or "illness."
* Latimer argues that only death could end his daughter's pain. Tracy couldn't be given adequate painkillers because they would cause an adverse reaction in combination with medication to help control her seizures, he says.
But critics say other people who take anti-convulsing medication do find compatible pain relief.
I have no doubt Robert Latimer loved his daughter. I have no doubt that, like the parents of any severely disabled child, he sometimes felt very alone.
I also have no doubt that Tracy Latimer is a victim twice over – once of murder and once of the injustice served by a society that can't see beyond the surface of disabilities and won't invest the resources that families need to nourish children who don't communicate or move or process information like the majority.
