Russel Ogden has not taught a university class in seven years, but said he would really like to.
Ogden is a paid member of the criminology department at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, but is unable to teach.
The Surrey, B.C.-based university is one of four recent institutions in the province created primarily to focus on access to education and was named a polytechnic school because of its provision of trade and academic lessons.
Ogden receives an annual salary from the university although he is not actively teaching. Though he declined to comment on his direct role with the university, he said the salary was paid to him as a merit for his current research on assisted suicide in Canada.
“In 2007, there was an order from the university to stop the research, but it was lifted in 2008,” he said. “Since then, I have continued the research.”
Ogden’s research aims to identify methods and rationale behind assisted suicide. While he said he could not speak to the results of his research, he gives a few examples in his paper, Observing a Self-Chosen Death.
“People will end their lives, either independently or in jurisdictions that permit it,” he said.
One instance specifically landed Ogden in trouble. He said a patient of his invited him to witness their self-directed death, which he said helped his research on helium hood kits as a method.
Assisted suicide in Canada is a criminal offence, as it is for any person attending the patient’s death.
Ogden said the deaths he saw were not in the presence of a doctor, but he was also reassured by the university to be protected in the case of legal pressure, even though he was still handed subpoenas in court.
According to the university’s website, each research project requires ethics reviews before it can begin.
“What I know is in the cases that have been observed, no crime has ever been found or charges have been laid, so the research design is ethical,” he said.
Even though his work is often controversial, Ogden said he thinks it is crucial to inform the debate on assisted suicide in the public sphere.
“It’s important to know whether the methods currently being used are effective, appropriate, and humane,” he said. “So observing [assisted suicide] helps us give the information we need to inform.”
