It’s an annual event now, like some sort of grotesque birthday – the attempt to make the spanking of one’s child a criminal offence. The zealots have failed so far, but be warned that each time, they come a little closer. For most of us, the normal ones, the issue is largely irrelevant. Spanking is sometimes helpful, and frequently a [...]
Over the last few months, numerous groups and media outlets have noticed that the world’s population is aging –alarmingly so in the developed world – yet few identified the solution to the problem. From the business pages of the daily papers to financial advisers, from the International Monetary Fund to the C.D. Howe Institute, alarm bells have been ringing about the rapidly [...]
Pro-life MPP Frank Klees finishes strong second The early frontrunner for the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership ended up winning, but the pro-life evangelical who finished second surprised many both in and out of the party. On the eve of the June 27 announcement at the leadership convention in Markham, one news broadcast said that the convention would crown either MPP [...]
The Quebec College of Physicians ethics task force is pushing the envelope on euthanasia by proposing that some forms of euthanasia be considered “as part of the appropriate care in certain particular circumstances.” The task force has toyed with the issue for three years and now is prepared to release a “reflection” paper in November. Dr. Yves Robert, the college’s secretary, told [...]
As the Queen’s Park columnist for The Interim, I recently found myself aboard Air Force One on assignment, heading towards Indiana and Notre Dame in the company of U.S. President Barack Obama. I was ensconced in luxurious surroundings, sitting in a window seat in the rear of the plane. Having a glass of Famous Grouse to satisfy my thirst, I happened [...]
But nostalgia for kid’s shows doesn’t stand scrutiny During the four years I wrote a daily TV column, I could always rely on at least one study a year, often more, decrying the debilitating effect that television had on the young mind. Among the most recent is a University of Washington report that blamed TV viewing for preventing babies from learning language, [...]
The last time I saw my dad alive was as he walked, arm in arm, with my mum through the departure gates of Toronto airport. It was symbolic. He turned around to wave goodbye. In a few weeks, he would be dead. I found out after his death that he had been suffering from agonizing bone cancer that had taken [...]
On June 15, one week before Toronto Pride Week, Diane Ablonczy, minister of state for small business and tourism, announced the federal government of Canada was funding the homosexual event with a $400,000 grant under a new Marquis Tourism Events Program. The program is designed to assist major Canadian tourist events and the grant money will be used to improve the Pride [...]
On June 3, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada released a report entitled, “Private Choices, Public Costs: How Failing Families Cost us All,” detailing the cost of family breakdown in Canada by examining the relationship between poverty and family structure. Co-authors Rebecca Walberg and Andrea Mrozek say that the cost of poverty alleviation for broken families is “a bare minimum” of [...]
“Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use violence to get what it wants.” - Mother Teresa at the 1994 Washington, D.C. prayer breakfast On May 31, Wichita, Ks. abortionist George Tiller was killed while handing out bulletins as an usher in the foyer of his Reformed Lutheran church. The murder was quickly [...]
Campaign Life Coalition has endorsed Frank Klees for the leadership of the Ontario Progressive Conservative party, noting that he is its "preferred candidate" in a field that includes three of his fellow Tory MPPs. Klees is rated "pro-life" by CLC, whereas Randy Hillier (Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox-Addington) is rated "not pro-life," Tim Hudak (Niagara West-Glanbrook) is rated "unknown" and Christine Elliot (Whitby-Oshawa) is [...]
As Easter weekend rolled around, and with it the end of my agonizing Lenten sacrifice of caffeinated drinks, I couldn’t help but remember childhood Easters and the ritual rolling out of 50s- and 60s-era biblical epics on the big three U.S. networks. The big event was always Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 remake of his own 1923 silent-era Mosaic blockbuster, The Ten Commandments, [...]
When Ralph Nader attended a press conference at Queen’s Park in Toronto to an overflow media crowd a few years ago, I asked him: “What’s your stand on pro-life issues?” He dismissed me with a wave of his arm. It was obvious he wasn’t going to wade into that contentious issue. It’s the same situation at the Park today. As an associate [...]
“Don’t ever compromise. Your goal should be to please God, not please man” – Carrie Prejean The U.S.A., at this moment, is engaged in an escalating culture war on the issue of same-sex “marriage.” If the battle plays out as it did in Canada, many Christians and many churches will largely run for cover, instead of speaking clearly what the Bible has [...]
What is the best means of persuading more of our fellow citizens to understand that the deliberate killing of a baby in the womb is an unmitigated evil? Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, is a leading proponent of shock tactics. On May 1, he was arrested and charged with criminal trespass for leading an anti-abortion demonstration on the [...]