Grassroots Liberals: Organizing for Local and National Politics by Royce Koop (UBC Press, 212 pages, $29.95 paperback) There has been much talk in the past few years about renewing the Liberal Party by focusing on its structure, from the federal executive and the provincial wings of the federal party down to the constituency associations at the riding level. Indeed, reform of their [...]
I spent one night of my holidays watching the new Bluray re-issue of Meet Me In St. Louis, a film that might be the pinnacle of the MGM colour musical, and is very probably the zenith of Judy Garland’s career. I enjoyed it even more than the last time I saw it, but like almost anything from what’s called Hollywood’s “Golden Age,” [...]
As I write my first column in 2012, and I’d like to introduce a new term, a new concept into the dialogue, the narrative of the Canadian body politic and public conversation. It’s this. Shut up! Yes, I know I sound a little rude, but there we are. As someone who has laboured in the media trenches for some years now, [...]
A study published in the British medical journal The Lancet claims that “unsafe” abortion rates are increasing and that abortion restrictions must be liberalized to decrease abortion and maternal mortality rates. The authors of the report, “Induced abortion: incidence and trends worldwide from 1995 to 2008,” led by Dr. Gilda Sedgh of the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, write that the rate of “unsafe” [...]
Editor’s Note: The following article is adapted from a speech Barr gave to the Watertown, New York Right to Life, in October 2011. I am very grateful for the opportunity to share my story with all of you today. As difficult as it is, I know that God is with me and that sharing my testimony is exactly what [...]
For three days in mid-January, more than 3000 members of the Liberal Party of Canada debated and voted on measures they hoped would rejuvenate the party’s fortunes after finishing third in last May’s federal election. Speaker after speaker at the Jan. 13-15 biennial convention in Ottawa either urged the party to be bold or congratulated the Grits for being [...]
In 1729, Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, anonymously published a satirical pamphlet entitled, “A Modest Proposal,” arguing that Ireland’s food shortage – and many other social ills – could be assuaged with a simple, two-pronged solution: the murder of infants and the cannibalism of their corpses. Cunningly clothed in the language of moderation, Swift offered infanticide to the [...]
In the week before Christmas, a Conservative Kitchener-area MP, created a media storm when he issued a press release saying it was time for Parliament to reconsider the country’s antiquated Criminal Code provisions which do not acknowledge the child in the womb as a human being. Section 223 of the Criminal Code deals with homicide and Section 223(1) defines human being [...]
A new study is calling for increased support for family caregivers in Canada. Supporting Caregivers and Caregiving in an Aging Canada by Janice Keefe of the Institute for Research on Public Policy addresses the pressing issue of how to care for an increasing elderly population as the baby boomer cohort continues to age. Currently, much of home care is provided by informal [...]
Just as the sordid but ongoing saga of filmmaker and convicted pedophile Roman Polanski fades once again from the headlines, stories of child abuse in Hollywood have erupted again, with an unprecedented frequency. Of course, if you don’t know where to look for this sort of news, you might never have heard a thing. In late November, a composer who had won [...]
On Nov. 30, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty introduced Bill 13, The Accepting Schools Act. This arrived on the heels of a tragic and much-publicized suicide involving Ottawa teenager, Jamie Hubley. The teen suffered with depression and happened to also be openly gay. The media dutifully painted the picture that Hubley committed suicide primarily due to “homophobic bullying” despite the fact his father [...]
In defense of the pernicious proposition that all mentally competent Canadians should have a legal right to medical assistance in committing suicide, the “expert panel” of the Royal Society of Canada on end-of-life decision making contends, in its recent report, that: “Autonomy (or the capacity for self-determination) is a paramount value to Canadians. Respect for autonomy requires respect for competent individuals’ [...]
Politically, this past year might have been one of the busiest we ever had. Campaign Life Coalition and its provincial wings were busy with the federal election, elections in five provinces, and local elections in British Columbia (and municipal elections in Ontario near the end of 2010). The Conservatives have a majority so there will not be a federal election until [...]
Honourable mentions: There are notable stories that would typically make the top 10 list, but do not – although they still warrant acknowledgment: the media fury over the 7 billionth person in the world being born; the British Columbia Supreme Court ruling against polygamy; the Supreme Court of Canada decision to keep the Insite “safe injection” clinic in Vancouver open; the release [...]
I have a large box truck with five-foot by ten-foot pictures of aborted babies on both sides. When I feel disgusted at my own passivity in the face of abortion I drive it up and down Highway 401, across the top of Toronto. I don’t know who will see these pictures of these dead babies on a given day. Of [...]