They still make Christmas movies, as far as I can tell, but we’re a long way from Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney singing Irving Berlin tunes for a war-weary generation. This Christmas, for instance, we have the very wry Bill Murray spoofing the holiday TV special in A Very Murray Christmas, and The Night Before, a seasonal buddy film where Seth Rogen, [...]
It’s hard not to look forward to Christmas. It’s a wonderful time of the year when friends and family get together to help trim the tree, put up the wreath and lights, sing carols, exchange presents, and enjoy a magnificent feast. A memorable holiday tradition throughout the ages has been to gather around a central location, such as a fireplace, and read [...]
When December comes, coffeehouses are already serving red cups and, in department stores, plastic sleighs and lighted trees are already on display. “Happy Holidays” was once a euphemism for another greeting, one celebrating the event by which our years are numbered; but “Merry Christmas” now barely echoes in that anodyne supplanting phrase. We can lament our secular culture’s recoil from the few [...]
Justin Trudeau On Nov. 13, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did something no head of Canada’s federal government has ever done: release the mandate letters given to every minister outlining expectations and government priorities for his portfolio. The move provides an insight into the government’s agenda and it was applauded by many in the media as a victory for accountable and [...]
Health Minister Jane Philpott Replying to an inquiry from the CBC, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said the government will “equalize” abortion “access” across Canada, which abortion advocates claim is not universally easy throughout the country. In a written response to the state broadcaster, Philpott said: “We know that abortion services remain patchy in parts of the country, and that [...]
The Conservative Party was reduced from majority government to sizable opposition, falling to 99 seats. Campaign Life Coalition rates 41 of the victorious Conservative MPs pro-life and admits that others were supportable according to their red, yellow, and green-light system. Because the Liberals and NDP have either formal or leader-imposed policies prohibiting pro-life candidates, CLC had no green-lit candidates in those parties. [...]
Perhaps it’s a quirk of our family, but sitting down together for a movie regularly has always been as important as sitting down for a meal. I have spent 30 years, on and off, writing about movies and other entertainment, so I’ve always wanted to be there for those moments I remember so well from my own childhood, when something I saw [...]
The Christian Heritage Party ran 30 candidates in the federal election, garnering a total of 15,284 votes nationwide, an average of nearly 510 votes in the ridings which the CHP ran. It was the seventh most among the political parties, after the Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Bloc Quebecois, Green, and Libertarians. CHP leader Rod Taylor thanked “all our CHP candidates who have given [...]
Rory Leishman Following a lengthy and sometimes impassioned debate on the euthanasia issue, the British House of Commons resolved on Sept. 11 by the crushing margin of 330 to 188 to reject a private member’s bill to legalize assisted suicide for mentally competent and terminally ill adults. In a genuine democracy, such a decisive vote in Parliament should settle the [...]
Liberals win huge majority. Opportunities for pro-lifers. Life and family issues in the next Parliament Justin Trudeau's 184 seat majority will not have one pro-life MP in his caucus. On Oct. 19, the solidly pro-abortion Liberal Party won a majority, taking 184 seats in the enlarged 338-seat House of Commons. The Conservatives were reduced to 99 seats and the NDP [...]
Stephanie Gray has started "Love Unleashes Life" to improve "heart-oriented" dialogue. Ever since meeting pro-life apologist Scott Klusendorf in 1999, Stephanie Gray knew she was meant to be a pro-life speaker. In 2001, Gray co-founded the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR) with Jojo Ruba, and served as its executive director. After a move to British Columbia last fall meant [...]
But there is hope that new batch will be better While pro-life leaders are delighted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s elevation of Justice Russell Brown from the Alberta Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, trendy proponents of judicial activism are appalled, and understandably so: Brown subscribes to the traditional judicial doctrine that judges should refrain from legislating from the [...]
Oakville Jack Fonseca, project manager of Campaign Life Coalition, told The Interim, “I think this is the biggest provincial protest in Ontario’s history.” He was talking about a mass protest organized by CLC and Canadian Families Alliance in front of at least 103 of 107 MPP constituency offices on Sept. 2, – a Wednesday – to urge the government to [...]
This election season has seen the release of numerous political books, but three stand out as important. Ostensibly books about Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper and by the current NDP and former Liberal leaders, might not provide similar insights, but indirectly they do. There have been numerous anti-Harper books released in the past year or so, evidence of what some call Anti-Harper [...]
The Dadly Virtues: Adventures from the Worst Job You’ll Ever Love edited by Jonathan V. Last (Templeton, $31.50, 180 page) Last year, Jonathan V. Last edited a wonderful volume, The Seven Deadly Virtues: 18 Conservative Writers on the Virtuous Life. In his most recent collection, 17 conservative writers, reflect on what it means to be a father and advise on how to [...]