Light is Right Joe Campbell I grew up under the protection of the Hicklin rule. That’s the test for obscenity that England’s Lord Chief Justice Sir Alexander Cockburn formulated in 1868. I don’t mean that I grew up in 1868. I mean, rather, that I safely completed my formative years before Canada abandoned the rule. Chief Justice Cockburn defined published [...]
Whit Stillman, New York City August 1990. My youngest daughter is fond of asking unanswerable questions like “what’s your favorite food?” or “who’s your favorite band?” I usually answer that I’m too old to have favorite anythings anymore, but she hasn’t asked me “who’s your favorite living movie director?” yet, and that would be easy to answer: Whit Stillman. Stillman [...]
From battling pro-life club bans on campus to provincial bubble zones, pro-lifers fight for free speech rights It should not be a surprise to anyone that pro-lifers have been experiencing censorship for decades, but it certainly seems like now, more than ever before, school administrations, city and provincial governments, pro-abortion groups, and even the general public, have ramped up their efforts to [...]
An artist's depiction of the 18 individuals named in the 1993 NDP action against Ontario pro-lifers. Editor’s Note: Silencing pro-lifers is nothing new. The December 1993 Interim reported on the Ontario government of NDP Premier Bob Rae attempt to silence pro-life protesters. The Ontario government wants to make it illegal to peacefully protest abortion or to counsel women in selected [...]
Ileen Kennedy Toronto pro-life activist Ileen Kennedy, wife of long-time Interim columnist Frank Kennedy, passed away peacefully of respiratory problems at the age of 87 at the Cardinal Ambrozic Houses of Providence in Toronto on July 7. From the mid-1980s until about five years ago, the Kennedys were fixtures at any event Campaign Life Coalition held in the Toronto area [...]
Newfoundland Pro-lifes In late June, lawyers for three Newfoundland pro-lifers and the Athena Health Center abortion mill in St. John’s, agreed to the creation of a 40-meter bubble zone around which there will be no protests. Rolanda Ryan, owner of the Athena Health Centre – the abortion facility at the site of what was once Henry Morgentaler’s first Atlantic Canada [...]
Alex Schadenberg Alex Schadenbeg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, was presented the Archbishop Adam Exner Award for Catholic Excellence in Public Life at the Catholic Civil Rights League’s annual dinner in Toronto June 2. Schadenberg thanked his mother Mary van Veen and his deceased father Harry for “instilling pro-life beliefs and values” in him, saying that “Mary van [...]
Paul Tuns When working with our summer students, one of the first lessons is to get them out of the habit of using personal pronouns. No one cares about you, they are instructed, just write about the topic. But as editor, there are privileges, so please allow me a personal essay as this summer I mark two important anniversaries. On [...]