Law Matters John Carpay In 1958, Chinese Communist dictator Mao Zedong ordered his countrymen to kill all the sparrows, because these “public animals of capitalism” ate grain seeds and fruit, reducing the size of harvests. The peasants complied, using every possible method. Millions of Chinese banged on pots and pans, scaring the birds into continued flight, until they dropped from [...]
Law Matters John Carpay If Trudeau’s Bill C-8 becomes law, parents could spend up to five years in jail for trying to help their son accept himself as a boy, or for helping their daughter to accept herself as a girl. C-8 would also impose prison terms up to five years for doctors, counsellors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other paid professionals whose [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Justin Trudeau loves preaching about “diversity,” “tolerance,” and “inclusion.” Sadly, these concepts have no application to Christian summer camps which help underprivileged children to enjoy hiking, swimming, canoeing and campfires. In 2018, the Trudeau government tried to force Canada Summer Jobs applicants to sign an attestation supporting the prime minister’s views on abortion. Trudeau backed down [...]
Law Matters John Carpay In AB v. CD,the BC Court of Appeal ruled that a female-born minor who wants to become a man can continue taking puberty blockers and testosterone against the objections of the child’s father. I wonder about the conversations that transgender adults may one day have with the judges who authorized them as children to pursue irreversible [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau declared in 1969 that “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation,” and that the government should ignore “what’s done in private between adults.” On that basis, his Liberal government proceeded to remove sodomy from the Criminal Code. Today, 50 years later, some Canadians believe that government should [...]
Law Matters John Carpay What would happen if our laws reflected and applied the Golden Rule of doing unto others what we want done unto ourselves? No person wants to be forced, coerced or even pressured into doing what she or he believes to be wrong. Someone applying the Golden Rule would say: “I myself do not want the law [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Question: What happens when intolerant secular fundamentalists take charge of government programs? Answer: Fewer underprivileged kids get to enjoy summer camps. The question-and-answer above summarizes two court actions against the federal government, which have exposed anti-Christian bigotry in the awarding of Canada Summer Jobs grants. Mill Stream Bible Camp, a 90-minute drive north-east of Toronto, welcomes [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Think back to the year 2000, or even 2010, and imagine someone telling you this: “The law requires every school to set up a Gay Straight Alliance for K-12 children. No exemption for religious belief or parental opposition. The law makes it illegal for teachers and principals to inform parents [...]
Law Matters John Carpay In March of 2015, Alberta’s Progressive Conservative government rushed a bill through the legislature in a matter of hours, requiring every school in Alberta to set up a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at a student’s request. Politicians promised the public that GSAs would merely be peer support groups, not political clubs that advocate for an ideology. Four years [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Passing a law against “hate” is a popular move, but one that seriously threatens free expression because people cannot agree among themselves on what constitutes hate. The House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights is now looking at changing federal laws to stem “the propagation of hateful acts and the enticement of hate [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Jason Kenney, Alberta’s new Premier, stated on election night that “parents know better than politicians what is best for their kids.” His United Conservative Party platform repeatedly referred to “Alberta’s successful tradition of school choice” and “the primary role of parents in choosing how their children are taught.” The UCP platform promises to repeal Bill 24, [...]
John Carpay Since 1982, judges have ruled in dozens of cases where a government, or a governmental authority, has violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (“Charter”). Section 2 of the Charter sets out the fundamental freedoms of association, peaceful assembly, conscience and religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication. [...]
John Carpay The free society is undermined by the progressive, politically correct claim that the many Canadians who hold traditional or religious views about sexuality are “hateful.” The notion that only post-modernist beliefs about sexual behaviour can be expressed in the public square is an enemy of authentic diversity. A real-life example of an attack on the free society is [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Politically and philosophically, leading Canadian feminist Meghan Murphy and self-described “Christian truth activist” William Whatcott have almost nothing in common. Yet both have been taken to task for expressing the opinion that a biological male is not a woman and cannot be a woman. Murphy was expelled from Twitter for “misgendering” JY, a biological male who [...]
Law Matters John Carpay Last month, the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) became an intervener in UAlberta Pro-Life v. University of Alberta.This court case arose in 2015, when a small group of students received approval from the University of Alberta to set up a stationary display on campus. The display juxtaposed photos of the developing unborn child with photos of abortions performed [...]