There has been much talk about the "democracy deficit" recently, as Prime Minister Paul Martin championed the cause of more freedom and accountability for MPs. Of course, almost every candidate seeking the leadership of any party promises a greater role for MPs; no leader wants to be seen as being against democracy. But few have acted on those promises once they have [...]
Boston College philosopher Peter Kreeft has said about the problem of suffering and injustice: "God's answer is not an explanation, but a deed." Kreeft, of course, was talking about the Crucifixion of Christ. This month, we begin the season of Lent and Father Ted Colleton explains the significance of this in his column. Fittingly, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is [...]
Same-sex 'marriage' Without a doubt, the biggest news story of 2003 is the June 10 Ontario Superior Court decision granting marriage rights to homosexual couples. This decision, in which three judges ignored millennia of tradition and replaced the law with their personal wishes, has serious implications for the family, our society, national politics and the future of our democracy. The first and [...]
The reason that the ALS Society of Canada, and other like-minded organizations, want the government to approve Bill C-13 is so that the Canadian Institutes of Health Research will fund pharmaceutical companies to do such research on human embryos using taxpayers' money. These pharmaceutical companies are eager for taxpayer dollars, too. But the fact that they are eager for government money highlights [...]
It sometimes seems that the culture of life enjoys few victories. The news is almost always bad. Dignity is insulted, virtues fade, and the foibles and follies of a world gone wrong can sometimes discourage even the most stout-hearted defender of life. Society is becoming postmodern, post-moral and, most distressingly, post-Christian. As Peter Kreeft puts it, "we cannot go back to being [...]
Bill C-250 was passed in the House of Commons 145 to 110 on Sept. 17. This so-called "hate crimes" bill is dangerous, debilitating, and disingenuous; it offends the basic principles of liberal democracy. And yet, our fight against this bill is not over, and our stuggle not in vain. It must first be noted that not only is the bill badly premised [...]
The deal announced on Oct. 16, wherein the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties would work to merge and present a united right alternative - the Conservative Party of Canada - to the governing Liberals is both a concern and an opportunity. It is a concern, in part, because listed among their 19 core principles is no mention of protection for innocent [...]
Bill C-250 was passed in the House of Commons 145 to 110 on Sept. 17. This so-called "hate crimes" bill is dangerous, debilitating, and disingenuous; it offends the basic principles of liberal democracy. And yet, our fight against this bill is not over, and our stuggle not in vain. It must first be noted that not only is the bill badly premised [...]
As a federal election seems imminent, Jack Layton and Dennis Mills, who will be running against each other, are storming the public suggestion box in a competition of ridiculous ideas. Although we have every confidence in Layton's ability in this field, Mills' most recent suggestion is an absurd coup de grace. He proposes that the United Nations move its headquarters to Toronto. [...]
The federal government's approach to homosexual unions is to assuage the concerns of the majority and placate the demands of a vocal minority by legislating same-sex "marriage" while vowing to "protect" churches' right not to perform them. In essence, they're saying to Canada, just trust us. Right. In 1967, the Liberal government of the day legalized contraception and vowed that it would [...]
What is marriage? Marriage is the sacrament of love that precedes the institution of life - the family. If the family is the microcosm of society, marriage is both secular constitution and sacred covenant. It is the habitat of the family, and it pre-exists the state. It is between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, for the [...]
On June 10, the three unelected judges who sit on the Ontario Court of Appeals overturned a traditional definition of marriage that has stood since time immemorial and which was reaffirmed by Parliament less than four years ago. This decision does not merely imperil religious freedom, nor is it simply another blow to the traditional family. It is, rather, one of the [...]
During the week of May 14, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ignored the March for Life in Ottawa, despite the fact that some 3,500 Canadians participated in that witness on behalf of the unborn. This is in contrast to other, smaller protests that received coverage from the national broadcaster in recent months, including: 300 fishermen in Badger's Quay, Nfld., who got two minutes [...]
Shame on Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who recently told a Liberal Party fundraising event in Montreal that among the reasons Canada is a better country than the United States is the fact that we have legal abortion. It is sick to suggest that the slaughter of approximately 115,000 unborn babies in the womb is virtuous and a sign of superiority over our [...]
The Interim was founded because the mainstream media ignored the pro-life message of former abortionist Dr. Bernard Nathanson while he was in Toronto. Twenty years later, the mainstream media is still ignoring life issues. Two recent examples illustrate this journalistic black hole. On March 28, Statistics Canada released the national abortion numbers, not including those committed in private abortuaries in Ontario. Campaign [...]