Sue Rodriguez

Who was Sue Rodriguez?

Sue Rodriguez was an advocate of assisted suicide.

She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with the given name Sue Shipley, and grew up in Thornhill, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. Her first marriage was short-lived.

Rodriguez, who lived in Victoria, British Columbia, was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in early 1991. She fought to have a legal right to assisted suicide; under the Criminal Code of Canada, assisted suicide is punishable by a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison. She took her cause to the Supreme Court of Canada, but ultimately lost the battle. On September 30, 1993, in what would become a landmark decision, Rodriguez v. British Columbia, the SCC held 5-4 against her.

In 1994, she decided to take her own life with the help of an anonymous physician. Svend Robinson, a New Democratic Party MP who had campaigned her cause, was also present.

A 1998 film called At the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story, with Wendy Crewson as Rodriguez, tells her story.