Inclusion Daily Express -- Mom Charged With Assisting In Son's Suicide (Oct. 1, 2004)

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Mom Charged With Assisting In Son's Suicide
By Dave Reynolds, Inclusion Daily Express
October 1, 2004

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--Marielle Houle, 58, was arrested Sunday and charged with assisting in the suicide of her 36-year-old son, Charles Fariala.

According to local news accounts, Houle was charged Monday and a hearing was scheduled for October 12.

Under Canadian law, someone "who counsels a person to commit suicide, or aids or abets a person to commit suicide, whether suicide ensues or not, is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years."

Fariala's close friend, actor/dancer Dulcinea Langfelder, told the Toronto Star that the aspiring playwright had recently been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She said that Fariala became a recluse over the last several months since he learned of the diagnosis.

"I would write to him, e-mail him, and he didn't respond," she said. "His decision was made. He was in pain. He could barely walk. His upper body was okay, but his legs were finished."

Ironically, a text Fariala wrote about disability and hope was turned into a play by Langfelder, entitled "Victoria". The play, which has been performed in Montreal and Europe, was inspired by Fariala's work in a nursing home.

"Charles himself was against legalizing euthanasia," Langfelder said. "He worked as an orderly, and he knew that if euthanasia was legal, scores of people would just disappear. But this was not euthanasia; it was his decision."

Houle's attorney told the Toronto Star that the case could eventually go to the Supreme Court of Canada to challenge the law that makes assisted suicide and euthanasia illegal.

The law is already being challenged on the other side of the country. In British Columbia, 74-year-old euthanasia campaigner Evelyn Martens is currently on trial for allegedly assisting in the suicides of a former nun and a school teacher.

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