Quebec teacher Josée Lamère chooses assisted dying after gallbladder cancer diagnosis

Josée Lamère, a former youth adviser who later taught religion-turned-ethics in Quebec’s public schools, became aware of medical aid in dying (MAID) through decades of public debate and personal experience caring for her mother with Alzheimer’s. Following her mother’s death, she used social media to urge changes to consent timing. In early December 2023, urgent-care tests revealed stage 4 gallbladder cancer with metastases; Dr. Poulin explained that without treatment she had only weeks to live.

Lamère requested MAID the same day, qualified for the immediate pathway, and the medication was administered 18 days later. The certainty of an end date allowed her to spend her remaining days more present with family, including her child Constance, who noted a shift toward quiet enjoyment. Lamère’s death contributed to Quebec’s 7.9 % MAID death rate, the highest worldwide, highlighting the province’s secular, rights-focused approach to end-of-life choices.