BY ANDREW LAWTON Interim writer, Andrew Lawton, Laying Down the Lawton In keeping with the theme of the last four years of politics, the final weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency were needlessly eventful. A protest against the process by which Joe Biden was declared the winner of last year’s election turned into a siege on the United State Capitol, which [...]
BY JOHN CARPAY Interim writer, John Carpay, Law Matters What drives some religious leaders to ignore the harm and suffering that lockdowns are inflicting on their congregations, and on all of society? We are now 10 months into the daily and ongoing violation of our human rights and fundamental freedoms. Depending on what province you live in, it’s illegal to [...]
BY PAUL TUNS Republican President Richard Nixon referred to the “silent majority” in 1969, but it was a liberal Hollywood producer who gave it voice in a sitcom that would dominate television for a half-decade in the 1970s. Norman Lear created All in the Family after hearing about, but not seeing, the British sitcom Till Death Do Us Part. The British show [...]
BY PAUL TUNS In his under-rated and under-appreciated sociological treatise, Passion and Social Constraint, Ernst van den Haag, notes that “though the culture of each society differs from that of others, some institutions are needed in all societies to perform, in however varied ways, functions essential to any social life.” He observed that “all societies that have offspring have the institution of [...]
BY PAUL TUNS In advance of an expected hearing date this year, the Catholic Civil Rights League (CCRL) announced that it had six affidavits in support of Fr. Tony Van Hee’s constitutional challenge to Ontario’s Safe Access to Abortion Services Act, the “bubble zone” law that outlaws pro-life speech near facilities that commit abortions. Among the affidavits were ones from Christian Elia, [...]
I saw online that Kathy Shaidle passed away on Jan. 9, after a long battle with cancer. She wrote her own obituary, which appeared on her blog Five Feet of Fury and that of her partner Arnie’s, Blazing Cat Fur. In it she wrote: “Contrary to cliche, Kathy did not conduct herself with particular ‘grace,’ ‘dignity’ or ‘courage’ in her final months. She [...]
BY PAUL TUNS Campaign Life Coalition premiered a 90-minute documentary on Canada’s pro-abortion foreign policy on Jan. 17. Obsessed: Canada’s Obsessed Coercive Diplomacy, is a professionally produced program that examines the Justin Trudeau government’s international abortion advocacy and features an in-depth and eye-opening conversation between former Canadian ambassador to China, David Mulroney, and African pro-life leader, Obianuju Ekeocha. CLC said in a [...]
BY PAUL TUNS The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do it Again by Robert D. Putnam (Simon & Schuster, $44, 465 pages) Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam (Simon & Schuster, $27, 580 pages) Twenty years ago, Harvard professor Robert Putnam made a splash with an essay and [...]
Interim writer, Joe Campbell, Light is Right By Joe Campbell When I was in Grade 10, one of the teachers bent over my desk and whispered, "Joe, you are a conceited, prodigious ass." I forget what outrage of mine prompted his sibilant complaint. I can't forget the complaint. A student spoken to in that manner today would go to his [...]
By Josie Luetke I don’t think I can recall a single pro-choicer who opposes abortion in cases of fetal disability or deformity. Usually, that circumstance is one that, if anything, buttresses their pro-choice stance. Like rape, disability is used to convince themselves of their moral superiority for supporting abortion, despite its intrinsically distasteful nature. They simply want to spare others from suffering [...]
Interim writer, Rory Leishman, National Affairs By Rory Leishman Until a few decades ago, the great majority of Canadians believed that assisting in a suicide was an appalling crime and a serious criminal offence; now, most of our fellow citizens support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide under the euphemistic guise of Medical Assistance in Dying. Why is that? A large [...]
By Rick McGinnis The first question you have to ask when holding all 600-plus pages of Barbara Amiel’s Friends and Enemies: A Memoir in your hand is: Who exactly is this book meant for? You might imagine that it’s an attempt to correct the story of her husband Conrad Black’s trial, conviction and imprisonment. But Black himself attempted to do that with [...]
Interim writer, Andrew Lawton, Laying Down the Lawton By Andrew Lawton Just as every business is essential if you rely on it to feed your family, church is essential if you rely on it to feed your soul. These are not radical, or even novel, ideas, yet they remain controversial in the face of lawmakers seeking to shut things – [...]
Interim writer, John Carpay, Law Matters By John Carpay Editor's Note: The statistics in this column were accurate when the print edition went to press on Dec. 20, 2020. A friend wrote me recently, stating “There are times when personal freedom has to be limited for the greater good. I was a small child in World War II, but well [...]
Interim writer, Rick McGinnis, Amusements By Rick McGinnis The recent Netflix adaptation of J.D. Vance’s 2016 memoir Hillbilly Elegy begins with a flashback – a vignette of working-class life that resonated with me, perhaps more than with most viewers. We begin with a montage where the camera glances over scenes of life in ramshackle rural Kentucky, the “hill country” where [...]