Cyril Doll
The Interim

Week 9: Sharing the shoulder

July 15-21: Wawa, Ont. to Sudbury
Total distance: 514 km

After eight weeks of walking, praying and witnessing for an end to abortion in this country, our place on the map gave evidence of how close we were to our ultimate destination: Ottawa.

We became eight walkers strong this week as Wendy Macagno, all five feet of her, joined us at the Sault Ste. Marie airport. A veteran of the 2004 U.S. central walk, Wendy was able to fly out to meet us from her home in Denver, Colo. She was introduced immediately to the unique ruggedness of northern Ontario by means of a smoked meat cookout courtesy of Interim writer Pete Vere and his young family. Pete treated the eight of us to a very palatable dinner of smoked bear, moose, turkey and lamb. After encountering more than one bear on our Northern Ontario sojourn, it was comforting to know who stood where on the food chain.

The weather turned for the better as we marched through the Soo onwards to the nickel capital of Canada. The traffic also increased, both on the highway and on the shoulder. I was warned by a local reporter in Sault Ste. Marie that this was going to happen, but for a period of three or four days, we came across a myriad of people walking, bicycling or jogging across Canada. There was a lady who left St. John’s, Nfld. in April and was crossing the entire country by herself to raise awareness for pet sterilization. Another fellow was jogging to raise awareness for domestic abuse. And dozens of yuppie couples were cycling across the country just for the heck of it. Most were politely supportive of our pro-life crusade.

Week 10: Arriving in T.O.

July 22-28: Sudbury to Burlington to Toronto
Total distance: 450 km

Oh my, what a change from the previous few weeks. Our days of walking through the middle of nowhere gave way to a welcome week of city and town walking. Ontario’s a beautiful province and it definitely doesn’t lack when it comes to spending its taxpayers’ money, but for some reason, they don’t pave their shoulders. That is unfortunate if you walk on it for 25 km a day, five days a week. Needless to say, we Crossroaders appreciate a bit of sidewalk from time to time.

After a quick visit to the shrine of North American martyrs in Midland, Ont., we made our way south to Toronto – the Big Smoke, Hogtown. The bright lights of the big city were going to guide us down the gaudy Yonge Street where a reaction, finally a reaction, was to greet us or so we thought and hoped. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The Torontonians were just as apathetic as their provincial brothers and sisters throughout the rest of the country.

On top of the usual stops at churches, we joined Campaign Life Coalition and The Interim Friday afternoon for lunch. On a sad note, we had to bid farewell to Tom in Toronto.

Week 11: Strolling towards Quebec

July 29-August 4: Toronto-Montreal
Total distance: 539 km

After blasting out of Toronto, we made our way northeast toward La Belle Province. In my own opinion, this was the most pleasant week of walking. Picturesque little towns dotted Highway 2 as we strolled parallel first with Lake Ontario and second with the St. Lawrence River. Also, they have these beautiful little blue flowers, which only seem to grow on the side of the road. The weather finally heated up to a unparalleled during this walk and a blast of humidity reminded us of how far east we’d actually walked.

For most of us, it was our first time in Quebec. There was some nervous apprehension toward how we’d be treated, mostly because of our message died into the cotton of our T-shirts, but also because of the language that it was in. We were told that, due to past experiences of other pro-life groups, our time in Quebec would be hairy and that there were a couple of folks praying that we’d have a positive experience in the nation-within-a-nation. Well, they must have been praying extremely hard – we made it through the province (the southwest corner, anyway) relatively no worse for wear.

Final week: The end is in sight

August 5-11: Montreal-Ottawa
Total distance: 195 km

Our last week of walking. After three months of plodding across the country, and months and months prior to that of organizing and planning the walk, it was with mixed emotions that we walked our last week of Crossroads. We were joined by Michelle Landry of Peterborough for a few days of hot and humid walking along the north bank of the Ottawa River.

One day prior to our arrival on foot, we met up with a contingent of local pro-lifers praying outside of the downtown Ottawa abortion site. There were about 20 of us, who for three-quarters of an hour prayed three Rosaries during the noon hour. Finally, a reaction. Three counter-protesters showed up holding signs that read, “Pro-family, Pro-child, Pro-choice.” Also, more than one onlooker took to hurling unoriginal verbal abuse toward us. It was the kind of confrontation one might expect, given the grave reality of abortion. It was a reaction that American Crossroaders experience every summer, but it wasn’t until Ottawa that we saw it in our country.

 After taking a stroll to the prime minister’s and governor-general’s houses, we arrived on Parliament Hill at about 11 a.m. on Aug. 11, 12 weeks after we had left Stanley Park in Vancouver. We were welcomed by about 50 supporters. I have to say, the reception was above and beyond anything we expected. MP Pierre Lemieux greeted us with a Canadian flag and presented each walker with a certificate commemorating the walk. Also, he addressed the crowd with a supportive speech before giving us a tour of Parliament.

Those of us on the walk who have walked the U.S. routes all agreed that our finale was bigger and better than anything we had experienced in the U.S.

Now, the walk is over and we get on with our lives. Jeremy, Etienne, and Sarah go back to their studies, Greg enters the seminary and Ben, Wendy and myself go back to our jobs. It was an amazing summer, and we all rest assured that our efforts, our prayers and sacrifice helped change minds and souls toward life.

Thank you to everyone who helped out along the way.