The 21st National March for Life, marking the liberalization of abortion by Pierre Elliott Trudeau on May 14, 1969, took place on May 10. Matt Wojciechowski, spokesman for March organizer Campaign Life Coalition, said that there was “a lot of joy in the air,” even with the ongoing discrimination the Canadian pro-life movement has been enduring. Catherine Glenn Foster, president of Americans United for Life, remarked that there were “so many different backgrounds, so many young people” at the 2018 March, saying this was “one of the most energetic…positive crowds” she has seen.
According to Campaign Life Coalition, 15,000 people attended. Conversely, David Akin of Global Newsclaimed 2000 people were at the rally at 1 pm.
National March for Life 2018
The March was dedicated to Kathleen Toth, the first president of Campaign Life Coalition, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary on May 25.
The theme this year was: “ALL IN.” On the March’s website, organizers explain that the theme “encourages everyone to commit themselves to the pro-life movement by going ALL IN. ALL IN to defend human life at all its stages, ALL IN to speak the truth in the face of adversity, ALL IN without exceptions, without excuses, without compromises.”
The March for Life organizers did indeed face adversity. The morning prior to the rally, organizers contended with strong winds and heavy rain and the rally itself had to be squeezed onto the West side of Parliament Hill this year because grass was being regrown where the temporary ice rink was.
March organizers were also forced to accommodate a counter-protest of approximately 100 people, self-proclaimed as the “Coalition to End The ‘March For Life,’” which blocked the pro-life procession on Elgin Street at the National War Memorial, forcing the March for Life into a standstill for about half an hour before marchers turned around and headed in the opposite direction, going west on Wellington Street instead.
Another hurdle was Ontario’s implementation of bubble zones. Traditionally, marchers have passed by the Morgentaler abortuary on Bank Street. Compelled to rethink the route, Campaign Life Coalition took the opportunity to lengthen it. Marchers went around the 50-metre bubble zone surrounding the abortion facility, and passed by the Supreme Court and two of the eight churches that held a pro-life service earlier that morning—St. Patrick’s Basilica and St. Peter and St. Paul’s Anglican Church.
The counter-protesters ended up at Metcalfe Street and Albert Street, where they met marchers on the last leg of the route. Despite forecasts of thunderstorms, the rain had held off throughout the rally and the march, so pro-lifers walking up Metcalfe had a clear view of the Parliament buildings ahead. The sun broke out from the clouds just as they were returning to Parliament Hill.
2018 March for Life photos 1
Participants generally responded positively to the March and to the changes to the route. Rafe Redmond Fernandes, a recent graduate of the law program at Queen’s University, noted that some people were confused about directions when the March was turned around, but otherwise he had no complaints. Zuza Bukala, a University of Waterloo kinesiology student, liked the longer walk and said organizers “handled it really well.”
2018 March for Life photos 2
The rally on the Hill was also formatted differently this year. Modelled after the U.S. March for Life rally, this year’s rally had “fewer speakers and more storytelling,” Wojciechowski told The Interim. Felicia Simard of CHOICE42 shared her testimony on the hill. Once a pregnant and homeless drug addict, Simard said, “When I chose life, my life began.” Dale Barr of the Silent No More Awareness Campaign described getting an abortion at age 16, her struggles with drugs, alcohol, and promiscuity that followed, and the healing she received from the church and post-abortion counselling. Kevin Dunn of Dunn Media talked about how this past year he and his wife Mary met the son Mary had given up for adoption.
CLC President Jim Hughes
Campaign Life Coalition national president Jim Hughes told the crowd: “I want you to remember you’re the shining light; you’re the candle in the darkness when you get back home, and it’s up to each and every one of us to deal with what’s at our feet and change Canada once again into a culture of life.”
Campaign Life Coalition youth coordinator Marie-Claire Bissonnette warned about chemical abortions, saying Canadians “will consider abortions nothing more than a pill to swallow and our work as pro-lifers will be made more difficult.” She argued that “what makes abortion intrinsically evil is not the amount of blood, and it’s not the pain it causes, it is the intentional killing of an innocent human life, no matter how young.” She concluded: “Protect life from the moment it begins.”
Cardinal Thomas Collins of the Archdiocese of Toronto, though he asserted, “we have a right to a place at the democratic table,” also said, “these issues are much more profound than the merely political.” He instructed: “We cannot, by our political action, make the most profound changes in the human heart which must be made. We need to do that by prayer, by love, and by our personal example.”
Left to right MPs Dave van Kestern, Kevin Sorenson, Mark Warawa and Harold Albrecht.
MP Harold Albrecht (CPC, Kitchener—Conestoga), who Wojciechowski praised for his “stellar pro-life track record” and “his willingness to champion the pro-life cause on Parliament Hill” spoke on behalf of his fellow pro-life parliamentarians, some of whom had attended former MP Gord Brown’s (CPC, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes) funeral that took place the same day in Ganonoque. Albrecht proclaimed, “We cannot be silent when human dignity and human rights are under attack…We are all diminished when we stand by and do nothing.”
Conservative MPs Bev Shipley (Lambton—Kent—Middlesex), Kelly Block (Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek), Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton—Melville), Rosemarie Falk (Battlefords—Lloydminster), Mark Warawa (Langley—Aldergrove), Kevin Sorenson (Battle River—Crowfoot), Dave Van Kesteren (Chatham-Kent—Leamington), and Brad Trost (Saskatoon—University) and Conservative Senators Percy Mockler of New Brunswick and Norm Doyle of Newfoundland were present, along with Halton Catholic District School Board Trustee Helena Karabela, Trillium Party MPP Jack MacLaren (Carleton—Mississippi Mills), Christian Heritage Party leader Rod Taylor, and former Progressive Conservative leadership contender Tanya Granic Allen.
The March was preceded by the “Candlelight Vigil for the Victims of Abortion” on Wednesday night at the Human Rights Monument in Ottawa, and on Thursday morning, 89-year-old retired RCMP officer Francis Barrett walked back and forth in front of Ottawa City Hall bearing the March for Life flag. In 2017, Barrett succeeded in applying to have the March for Life flag raised at City Hall. The flag was taken down prematurely, though, following outrage from city councillors and pro-choice activists online. In response, Mayor Jim Watson tweeted that he had asked the city’s clerk’s office to review its proclamation and flag raising policy, so this year, in addition to not raising the flag, and at the urging of pro-abortion groups the city did not proclaim “March for Life Day,” which it has done in previous years.
The Rose Dinner, Youth Banquet, and Youth Conference followed the March. Glenn Foster was the speaker at the Rose Dinner, and chastity speaker and beatboxer Paul J. Kim addressed the youth banquet. Registered nurse and assistant professor in the faculty of nursing with the University of Alberta Christina Lamb and co-founder of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform Stephanie Gray, who is continuing her work in her ministry Love Unleashes Life, were the keynote speakers at the Conference.
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Yukon held their own provincial/territorial marches, which collectively were attended by thousands.
Next year’s March will occur on May 9, and will mark 50 years of the liberalization of abortion in Canada.
