A leading Canadian academic, Olympic athlete, businessman, poet and author, having composed books including The Trouble With Canada, The War Against the Family and Constitutional Crack-Up, William Gairdner was also managing editor of a landmark historical book, Canada?s Founding Debates. As a track and field athlete, he represented Canada in the men's 400-metre hurdles and the men's decathlon at the 1964 Summer [...]
Voters urged to consider views of individual candidates On Sept. 8, Prime Minister Stephen Harper went to the Governor General and asked that an election be called for Oct. 14. The opposition criticized the move considering that by law an election was scheduled for October 2009. Pundits said the Tories were taking advantage of the Liberals poor polling numbers. Pro-life leaders were [...]
Duceppe attacks Opus Dei candidate Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe attacked Nicole Charbonneau Barron, who is the Conservative candidate in the South Shore Montreal riding of St. Bruno-St. Hubert, and a member of the Catholic group Opus Dei. Duceppe said Barron?s candidacy and membership in Opus Dei proves that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a ?right -wing ideologue? and that the Conservative [...]
Some pro-lifers might think that a candidate belonging to a certain party is unworthy of support, even if that candidate has a solid pro-life record, because the party as a whole is anti-life. Well-deserved criticism of the Liberal and Tory records, for example, might lead people to dismiss individual candidates out of hand. It is important to remember, however, that in the [...]
If you take away the life issues, the Conservative Party and its leader Stephen Harper is the clear choice for social conservative voters. While the Conservative government has actively avoided dealing with life issues, it has addressed other issues dear to social conservatives. The most significant was a signature item of their 2006 election platform: the Universal Childcare Plan that gives $100 [...]
The media consortium in charge of the leader’s debate has once again excluded Ron Gray, leader of the Christian Heritage Party (CHP), from the national leaders’ debates on October 1 and 2. The exclusion came after a major outcry forced Canada’s television networks to reverse their initial decision to exclude Green Party Leader Elizabeth May. Thus the leader of Canada’s fifth-largest political [...]
This election will be Ron Gray?s last as leader of the Christian Heritage Party. After 13 years of leading Canada?s only pro-life federal political party, he is stepping down on Nov. 6 at the party?s national convention in London, Ont. The 75-year-old had already announced his intention to retire and called for a leadership race, when the Parliament dissolved and the Oct. [...]
Lawyer argues against obstruction charges On Sept. 11, Linda Gibbons’s lawyer put forth a unique argument during the first day of her Provincial Court trial on a charge of obstructing a peace officer in connection with events outside the Scott “Clinic” abortuary in downtown Toronto last July 31. The diminutive grandmother has spent approximately five of her past 14 years in prison [...]
On Sept. 5, the British Columbia Court of Appeal affirmed a lower court decision which found that the bubble zone law prohibiting pro-life protests or sidewalk counselling within a 50-meter access zone to abortion facilities does not violate the freedom of speech guaranteed by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In December 1998, Gordon Watson and Don Spratt were arrested when they [...]
U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s loving and highly-publicized acceptance of her Down’s syndrome child Trig has at least one prominent Canadian doctor worried that her example may lead to mothers shunning abortion after diagnosis of Down’s syndrome. According to the Globe and Mail, Dr. Andre Lalonde, executive vice-president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada, is worried that Palin’s decision to [...]
College of Physicians and Surgeons Manitoba reveals similar plans In a victory for the conscience and religious rights of medical professionals, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario has revised its controversial draft policy that would have forced Ontario’s physicians to put aside their religious beliefs in order to comply with the College’s interpretation of Ontario human rights law. Doctors that [...]
On August 25, federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced that the Conservative government would introduce its own bill to counter pro-abortion attacks on C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act. Last year, Ken Epp (C-Edmonton Sherwood Park) introduced C-484 to recognize the unborn victims of violent crime committed against their pregnant mothers. Abortion advocates railed against the bill as a backdoor way [...]
The passage of another summer season means another look back at those companies and government entities that kept ?gay pride? events afloat for another year. Starting from the West and moving east ? Vancouver Pride Day 2008 was supported by sponsors including the 24 Hours newspaper,CTV, Edgewater Casino, Pepsi/Aquafina, Schick, Shaw, Tourism Vancouver, Vancity, Molson, The Beat 94.5 FM and Zipcar. Edmonton Pride [...]
I was shocked, stunned, incredulous and totally off my rocker when I saw on CNN that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was John McCain’s choice as his Republican running mate. So was CNN. So was Senator Barack Obama. Largely unknown to Americans, even Obama on CNN said that he was surprised at the choice. Here was Palin, a stunningly beautiful former model, a [...]
Sometimes we in the media merely play a game. Making little ripples at the side of the water rather than diving right in to make an almighty splash. In other words, we run around the edge of various problems and debates but are afraid to shine light on the authentic dilemmas of our age. Whether it’s politics, economics, culture or [...]