An event is taking shape which I hope will be a significant intervention into Canadian politics with respect to disability in general and to Bill C-7 and MAiD in particular. The event, which is in the urgent planning stages, is intended to coincide with discussion of Bill C-7 in the Canadian House of Commons. Although I am not one of the organizers of the event and thus do not have full details about it at this time, I have been asked to participate in it and promote it. Hence this post is intended to encourage readers and listeners of BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPY to participate in the event and support it in whatever ways they can.

The Canadian Parliament is scheduled to sit March 8-12 and March 22-26. It appears that somewhere during that interval the Prime Minister of Canada is planning to pass #BillC7— likely sooner rather than later.

Beginning Monday evening at 7 pm, that is, at 7pm on the 8th of March, a Disability Filibuster, that is, a live Zoom solidarity broadcast will take place. The event will run nonstop, around-the-clock, until the Prime Minister withdraws Bill C-7 and returns to the drawing board.

The event will be hosted/broadcast solely by disabled people who will: talk about the potential deleterious impacts of Bill C-7 on disabled people and other marginalized and disenfranchised populations in Canada; perform music; read poetry; talk about the philosophical underpinnings of Bill C-7 and MAiD; illuminate the struggles of disabled people in Canadian society; and much more. I will read some of my recent work in philosophy of disability, on nursing homes, and on Bill C-7, as well as run a teach-in or two.

The Disability Filbuster is the brilliant invention of Catherine Frazee and Gabrielle Peters, both of whose important activism and insights I have highlighted in previous posts on BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY. The event needs your participation, assistance, and financial support to be a success.

If you are a disabled philosopher who has written on Bill C-7, could give a teach-in about the legislation, or could talk about (for example) the philosophical dimensions of Bill C-7 and eugenics, I encourage you to host/broadcast a segment of the filibuster. You can also get involved in other ways, such as organizing blocks of broadcast time, providing financial or tech support, live tweeting the event, etc. Please contact Gabrielle Peters at gabriellepeters04@gmail.com to find out how you can contribute to this innovative and crucial event.

If you are a nondisabled person who wants to contribute to this momentous endeavour, you are encouraged to get involved behind the scenes with fundraising, to provide social media support, provide technical support, and so on. Please contact Gabrielle Peters at the email address given above to find out how you can participate in and support what promises to be an important moment in Canadian history.

I will provide more details of the Disability Filibuster as they become available to me.