Speakers outline some encouraging developments Although many challenges persist on life issues, the focus was on the positive when the Ontario Provincial Pro-Life Conference 2004, hosted by Alliance for Life Ontario and Campaign Life Coalition Ontario, took place in Hamilton April 16 and 17. An example of the positive emphasis was the Third Annual Gala Dinner in support of the Reaching Minds [...]
Interim StaffIn an effort to pressure the Manitoba provincial government to fund abortions in private facilities, a group of Winnipeg women are turning "Jane's Clinic" - formerly Henry Morgentaler's Winnipeg abortuary - into a non-profit facility. Meanwhile, they will continue Morgentaler's crusade to pressure the provincial government to fund his abortion business, even as the province considers establishing a new "women's health" [...]
From March 17 - 20 the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations and the Pontifical Academy for Life hosted the International Congress on "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas" in Rome at the Augustinianum University. I represented the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition to receive the most up-to-date information concerning the scientific advances and to be part of the debate [...]
Abortion advocates challenge ban signed into law last November LifeSite NewsJudge Richard C. Casey did not let partial-birth abortionist Dr. Timothy Johnson off easy. In court testimony March 31 challenging the constitutionality of the partial-birth abortion ban, Casey grilled Johnson about the grisly procedure. Partial-birth abortions often necessitate dismemberment of a live baby while his head remains entrenched in the womb. Judge [...]
By Interim Staff Rev. Ed Hird, rector of St. Simon’s, Deep Cove, B.C., now takes his orders from four African primates. Hird is one of four priests to resign from the Anglican Church of Canada because their former bishop, Michael Ingham, approved the blessing of same-sex unions. The four remain in fellowship with the worldwide Anglican Communion and will receive episcopal care [...]
On April 15, Svend Robinson (NDP, Burnaby-Douglas), Canada's first openly homosexual MP, called a press conference where he tearfully told the nation he had "inexplicably" stolen a piece of jewelry on Good Friday and then explained it was due to the stress and poor health that he has suffered since a "hiking accident" in 1997. Effective immediately, he was taking a medical [...]
By Tony Gosgnach The InterimHe courted the Catholic and ethnic vote in his riding of Hamilton East, and has been praised in at least one Catholic publication for having "a passion for social justice." But throughout his provincial political career, Dominic Agostino was also a solid supporter of the "gay rights" cause. Agostino passed away at the age of 44 on March [...]
Interim StaffRecently, small groups of concerned citizens have met with Darrel Reid, national president of Focus on the Family Canada, to hear about his organization's plan to protect marriages in Canada. Reid explained that we are at a historic time in our country. The question of the redefinition of marriage has come before our nation at a time when an election is [...]
About 3,500 concerned Canadians from every province gathered on Parliament Hill to protest bill C-250, which seeks to include "sexual orientation" as an identifiable factor under Canada's hate crime legislation. Many fear the bill will mean anyone who speaks against homosexuality will risk prosecution. Opponents of the bill think that civil liberties, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion, will [...]
Perhaps, the New Democratic Party should change its name to the No Democracy Party. The Interim has obtained the official party response to questionnaires sent by Campaign Life Coalition and Life Ethics Educational Association to all federal candidates and the NDP are requiring strict adherence to their pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia and pro same-sex "marriage" positions. Windsor-area NDP MP Brian Masse apparently forwarded his [...]
The U.S. pro-life movement scored a major victory April 1, when President George W. Bush signed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act into law. The new law will treat an unborn child as a second victim when he is killed or injured in the commission of a federal crime. Canada, however, lags far behind the US when it comes to the protection [...]
Interim StaffOn March 31, Statistics Canada released information showing that Canadian women committed 106,418 in 2001. The 106,418, which CLC National News compares to eliminating a mid-sized city each year, is added to the more than 2 million abortions committed in Canada since 1960. The statistics reveal that almost one-quarter of all Canadian pregnancies end in abortion, or, for every three babies [...]
Commentary By Suzanne Fortin The InterimIn my experience, most pro-lifers don't vote according to their pro-life values. During an election, the majority of pro-lifers look for the party or the politician who offers the best overall "package;" that is, the best policies and the greatest ability to govern and represent their interests. In their minds, pro-lifers place various economic, social and political [...]
For 21 years, a now-retired religion teacher from Mississauga, Ont. has been taking young people and adults to Third World countries not only to expose Canadians to the poverty afflicting people elsewhere in the world, but also to help promote a broader meaning of the term "pro-life." "I see a connection between children in difficult Third World circumstances and what being a [...]
Peter Tassi looked into the eyes of those gathered around him - survivors and offspring of the 1994 Rwandan genocide that some now say may have taken more than a million lives. "You are from the superpower, from paradise," they told the Hamilton Catholic high school chaplain. "Where were you in 1994 with your planes and your bombs? Why didn't you come [...]