• Each party nominates its local candidates (as now), as well as a list of candidates for the whole province, in the order that it wants them to be elected. Before the election, parties must submit their lists, and the details of the process they used to create them, to Elections Ontario. Elections Ontario will publish this information widely, so voters will [...]
In an effort to encourage the youth of Canada to speak up about their thoughts on our country, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation began a forum entitled, “The Great Canadian Wish List” on the internet site Facebook. Facebook is a social networking website that has become popular for connecting and re-connecting with friends, colleagues, co-workers and family through the internet. As of February [...]
Statistics Canada has released a report, “Labour Force Projections for Canada, 2006-2031,” which finds that as babyboomers begin to retire, there will be a major decline in the workforce participation rate. While sunny-eyed optimists point to the part of the study that says the number of workers will continue to increase over the next few decades, there is cause for concern for [...]
The Madrid-based Institute for Family Policies has issued a report to the European Parliament warning about “the deterioration of the family panorama.” Citing demographic, sociological and economic evidence from a team of experts, the IFP is calling on E.U. delegations to make the family a policy priority and promote the traditional family as an institution, recognize the fundamental right of parents to [...]
Murphy’s Law is this, “If something can go wrong, it will go wrong.” I sometimes think I must be related to Murphy – but not always! One weekend, things went right. I was already committed to preaching on the missions at Canadian Martyrs Church in Ottawa and had booked my passage on the train. Then, a few days before, I heard about [...]
Playing sports has always been a luckless, losing game for me. I was playing golf in a foursome with some guys from the office a few years back and gave up keeping score when we finally reached the 18th hole. At the back of the short 18th hole was a parking lot for the golfers, protected by a very tall wire fence. [...]
The news that a Dutch TV game show was to give away organs as prizes to contestants who were awaiting organ transplants ended up being something of a hoax. The program aired in June, but the supposedly dying donor who was to give away her organs was healthy and there was, in fact, no organs available for transplant. The whole spectacle was [...]
Instead of demand reduction, for 20 years, Canada’s national drug-strategy has emphasized supply-side law enforcement — investigating, apprehending and convicting illicit drug growers and dealers. That effort comprised nearly three-quarters of what had been a $368 million budget in 2004-2005. Filling out the rest of the pie were treatment, research, prevention and harm reduction. The Conservatives’ March budget was a step in [...]
The May 21 case of another newborn abandoned in Saskatchewan reveals grave deficiencies in Canada’s legal protection of children. Like the Saskatoon mother who left her baby in the frigid Feb. 3 weather, the mother who left her baby in the toilet of a Prince Albert Wal-Mart will likely not be charged with a crime. As Calgary Sun editor Licia Corbella pointed [...]
“Cloned human embryos would be the first human embryos whose genetic makeup would be determined not by the chance union of egg and sperm, but by deliberate human selection and design. When research cloning is seen in the context of growing powers of genetic screening and genetic manipulation of nascent human life, it becomes clear that saying “yes” to creating cloned embryos, [...]
The quotable Leon Kass Editor’s note: Leon R. Kass delivered this commencement address at St. John’s College, Annapolis, Md. on May 13. It is reprinted with permission. Dr. Kass is chairman of the President’s Council on Bioethics, a Hertog Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the author of numerous books, including Reproduction and Responsibility (2004) and Life, Liberty and the Defence [...]
Canada Testifying before an ad hoc parliamentary committee on bilingualism, Brian Mulroney’s former press secretary, Michael Gratton, condemned the Harper government’s axing of the Court Challenges Program last fall, calling the move “illegal” and “unconstitutional” ...Stephen Harper has appointed Judge Warren K. Winkler as chief justice of Ontario. Winkler is seen by insiders as more of a common-sense “country judge” than a judicial activist and [...]
Estrogen in waterways affecting fish development and reproduction KENORA, Ont. – A recent study in a northwestern Ontario lake has proven that just small amounts of estrogen added to a freshwater lake can have severe effects on fish development. The study was led by Dr. Karen Kidd, fish scientist and biology professor at the University of New Brunswick. Small amounts of estrogen were [...]
A controversial, feminist Supreme Court judge credited with being a pioneer in “interpreting” the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, “forever” changing our society and framing abortion solely in terms of a woman’s “constitutional right to choose” has died at the age of 83. Bertha Wilson was the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada and came to the bench just [...]
The Ben Navaee Gallery will be hosting a show in support of Toronto’s Aid to Women from June 1-11. The story at the source of the inspiration behind this show involves the gallery’s curator, Ben Navaee, and his partner, Lenka. Like so many stories involving Aid to Women, Ben and Lenka’s is one of love, understanding, compassion and most of all, serendipity. [...]