The BC Civil Liberties Union is asking the Vancouver Public Library to review its decision to deny workshop space to an Australian right-to-die group.
Exit International had booked space in November to hold a workshop teaching terminally ill people to end their lives but the library cancelled the booking over concerns it could violate federal laws prohibiting assisted suicide.
Criminologist Russell Ogden says the proposed workshops focus on content that is already readily available in other publications, including books in the VPL dating back to 1991.
"We have the curious circumstance where the publication of the material is apparently fine with the public library but talking about it is not," he said.
City librarian Paul Whitney disagrees, saying the library welcomes open discussion about the issue, but that instructing people on how to end their lives is different than debating assisted suicide.
Exit International advocates rights for terminally-ill patients to end their lives, and offers workshops and books about how to do it.
The group's director, Dr. Philip Nitschke, says his organization aims to give people the best end-of-life information to make the best decision "and carry out the procedure if that's the choice they want."
"We should be able to talk to groups of elderly people, answer their questions and have them go away comfortable in the knowledge they have the best information about what is a changing field so they can go home and prepare for their end of life situation."
Nitschke added he would prefer it if Canadian law allowed assisted suicide to happen out in the open, but until then people have the right to take action themselves.
With files from The Canadian Press
