By Mark Wegierski: The Canadian federal election of September 20, 2021, was another failure for the Conservative Party of Canada, despite Conservative leader Erin O’Toole’s attempted “move to the centre.” After five months the Conservative Party put an end to the infighting among pro- and anti-O’Toole factions, with the caucus voting him out as leader. While the political leader is important, the [...]
Carl Hétu Special to The Interim: Editor’s Note: Carl Hétu was the national director of CNEWA Canada (Catholic Near East Welfare Association) from 2004 – 2022. This open letter is reprinted with permission. Eighteen years ago this month, I officially began my journey as a national director for CNEWA, specifically to help establish a Canadian office. Many at the time thought the [...]
Paul Tuns From the editor’s desk: Cardus, a Canadian think tank, released a report, “Needs Improvement: How Public Schools Teach About Religion,” authored by Andrew P.W. Bennett. The study looked at how religion is taught in elementary and secondary schools in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. It found that approaches varied, with Ontario being a “stand-out example of a more [...]
Rick McGinnis: Interim writer, Rick McGinnis, Amusements The ‘90s don’t get a lot of love. The last decade of the 20th century is often seen as a kind of pregnant pause – a political and social interregnum between an event that put an (apparently) full stop on the conflict that had shaped much of the previous century (the Cold War) [...]
Whatever Happened to Tradition: History, Belonging, and the Future of the West by Tim Stanley (Bloomsbury Continuum, $38, 266 pages) Tradition and especially traditionalism has a bad reputation. It is often conflated with the old-fashioned and nostalgia, which barely begin to scratch the surface of the richness of tradition. Tim Stanley, an editorial writer for the Daily Telegraph in London comes to [...]
100 Poets: A Little Anthology by John Carey (Yale University Press, $32.50, 268 pages): Oxford professor emeritus John Carey is the author of The Little History of Poetry and biographies of John Donne and Charles Dickens. His latest book is 100 Poets: A Little Anthology, a fun little collection of representative samples from important poets. The list runs roughly chronologically, beginning with [...]
The City of God Saint Augustine, selections and introduction by Hans Urs von Balthasar (Ignatius Press, $27, 350 pages) Augustine’s The City of God is an essential book of western civilization, examining the development of the Earthly City and how it relates to the City of God. Standard texts of The City of God run more than 1000 pages and it can [...]
Paul Tuns: A CareNet study released in January showed that men play a significant role in the abortions women get. Based on a survey of 1000 American men whose partners had an abortion, the CareNet study found three-quarters of men talked to their spouse or girlfriend about the abortion prior to the woman making her decision to have an abortion. There were [...]
Oswald Clark: According to data released by the Texas Health and Human Service Commission, the number of abortions committed in the state fell by more than half in the first month that the so-called heartbeat law took effect in September 2021. The heartbeat law, which took effect on Sept. 1, prohibits abortion after a heartbeat is detected, typically around six weeks gestation. [...]
Political scientists have a concept called the Overton Window which refers to the range of policies that are politically palatable to mainstream politicians and the majority of the population at any given time. It is sometimes invoked to suggest that activists must be “realistic” in their political demands. The Overton Window has its uses—but also its limitations: while the proper disposition in [...]
Paul Tuns: The Office of the Chief Coroner of Ontario released data showing that the number of euthanasia deaths in the province increased more than 30 per cent in 2021 compared to the previous year. The Chief Coroner reported 3102 deaths by euthanasia in 2021, up more from 2378 in 2020. For the month of December, there was more than a 50 [...]
Paul Tuns: Conservative MP Kelly Block (Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek) introduced a conscience rights private member’s bill in Parliament. If passed, Bill C-230, “An Act to amend the Criminal Code (intimidation of health care professionals),” would make it a criminal offense to compel a medical professional from taking part, directly or indirectly, in euthanasia or assisted-suicide or firing any such medical professional for [...]
Paul Tuns: The New York Times ran a long article on Jan. 1: “When they warn of rare disorders, these prenatal tests are usually wrong.” The examination by the New York Times found that non-invasive blood tests taken in early pregnancy that look for missing chromosomes are wrong 17 out of 20 times when they indicate a genetic problem other than Down [...]
Oswald Clark: In January, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, 84, announced that he would retire following the current session that is expected to end in June; the Court will be giving its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a challenge to the state of Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The retirement will therefore not affect [...]
Interim Staff: Catholic Canadians have joined a global movement of praying the rosary in public to ask Mother Mary to intercede to end COVID restrictions such lockdowns, forced masking, and coercive vaccine mandates. Canada Prays is a weekly recitation of the Rosary in a public place in 50 communities across the country. The first one took place on Jan. 26 at 6 [...]