Somewhere in Winnipeg is a little-known institution that is oh-so-Canadian. Its a typical bureaucratic monstrosity, depending largely on secrecy in order to operate and extend its tentacles into the business of Canadians.

I am, of course, speaking of Advertising Standards Canada. Set-up to monitor truth in advertising, the top-secret group even tries to tackle moral issues, or should I say, when the truth of what they are looking at doesn’t fit their political views, they will find another way to make sure truth is not what you are looking for.

But first some history. In 1999, Burnaby Pro-Life placed an ad in their local newspaper, Burnaby Now, that detailed the fetal body parts racket taking place in North America. The ad was based on information circulated by various pro-life organizations, chiefly Life Dynamics of Denton, Texas, under the very capable leadership of Mark Crutcher. Pro-lifers will be well aware of numerous news clippings that feature documentation on the body-parts racket, including an ABC 20/20 interview with Dr. Miles Jones.

But back to the story. Joyce Arthur of the B.C. Pro-Choice Action Network (P-CAN) filed an official complaint with the ad council, claiming that the ad was false and was being used to malign the wonderful example of humanity we know as the abortionist. Throwing their hat into the ring was the National Abortion Federation, which also filed a complaint. The ad council ruled that the ad did indeed malign the abortionist community in Canada. For reasons unclear, the council would not rule on the truthfulness of the ad in question.

The response was immediate. Erin Kaiser of P-CAN immediately issued a press release, hailing the decision and claiming the ad had been proven false. (Erin Kaiser, you will remember, was the “pregnant nun” at a recent demonstration sponsored by P-CAN, taking place at the Catholic cathedral in Vancouver. She also just happens to be the individual who violently trashed a pro-life student display at the University of British Columbia last year. Vancouver Crown council had no inclination to charge Kaiser with her violent crime, but that was probably due to a series of secret meetings that take place between the ever-neutral Ministry of Attorney General and Joyce Arthur, P-CAN head.)

Anyway, Advertising Standards Canada prefers to make its pronouncements in secret, then release them at a later date. They feigned outrage that the ever-peaceful and respectful Pro-Choice Action Network would spread the word before they did.

Burnaby Pro-Life appealed the decision, asking also that a ruling be made on the truthfulness of the material in question. The ever-openminded Advertising Standards Canada ruled on the appeal, stating that the original complaint is upheld – namely, telling the Canadian public about the buying and selling of body parts from aborted babies makes abortionists look bad, so there! They were silent again on the truthfulness of the ad. The material supplied to the council was exhaustive, and included copies of material published by the Congress of the United States of America.

But truth in the abortion debate has never been part of the debate. The top-secret process that the ad council used to make its decision smacks more of Soviet-style decision making than anything taking place in a thriving democracy. The process is flawed, with decisions made arbitrarily, anonymously and without any form of accountability.

And thus is the nature of the abortion debate in Canada. If you reside on a university campus, trying to show truthful, accurate depictions of what takes place in an abortion will get you subject to verbal threats, along with violent physical attacks on your material – seemingly with the consent of the Ministry of Attorney General, along with Crown council. All in the name of “choice.” The Attorney General’s Ministry will meet in secret with your opponents, plotting your political demise, while they protect the rights of those who use violence to silence your message. If you try to spread your message about the baby chop-shop body parts racket, then you again will be labelled a problem. Telling people the truth will cause them to think less-than-happy thoughts about their local abortionist, so your message must be banned from the newspapers of the land.

To that end, and since I have made no promise to cease from using the baby chop-shop ad in question, interested readers can write to me, care of The Interim, to receive their free copy, which they can then copy and use in their local newspapers, or hand out as a flyer – thus circumventing the tyrants who want to protect Canadians from knowing the truth about abortion and what we do with our dead.

Hey, I hear that Advertising Standards Canada might be tackling their next target. Those nasty ads that make smoking companies look bad. There is a lot of cigarette salesman losing sleep at night because government ads have made us think nasty thoughts about their contribution to Canadian society.

Only in Canada you say? Pity.