The Way, a low-budget movie starring Martin Sheen, one of the most radical left-wing activists in Hollywood, has won unstinting praise from conservatives like Laura Ingraham, a prominent talk-show host in the United States. At the conclusion of an interview with Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez, the movie’s writer and director , Ingraham enthused: “There are not many films that I [...]
The sources of media bias go beyond ideology Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from two speeches Interim editor Paul Tuns delivered last Fall to the Eastern Ontario Campaign Life Coalition regional conference on Oct. 29 and a CLC Toronto forum on Nov. 12. When we think about “what’s wrong with the media,” the problem goes much further than media bias [...]
Candidate fought for daughter with Trisomy 18 Isabella Santorum is one of the most compelling aspects of U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s campaign. Nicknamed Bella, Santorum’s three-year-old daughter has been the focus of media attention because of her father’s care of and pride for her. Bella suffers from Trisomy 18, a rare and often fatal genetic disorder that affects one in 3,000 [...]
A pro-life sidewalk demonstration that forces passers-by to face the truth about what “choice” means is coming to Toronto. The Canadian Center for Bioethical Reform (CCBR) uses three feet by four feet signs with graphic images of aborted babies under the question “Choice?” in order to engage the public in a conversation about abortion by showing what the euphemism of choice is [...]
Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, along with 21 other bishops from around the world, was promoted to the College of Cardinals at the Feb. 18 consistory. In an interview with Maclean’s as cardinal-designate prior to the consistory, Archbishop Collins was asked about “what Catholics call ‘life issues’,” and he replied: “I think it is the ultimate issue, the respect for life [...]
On Feb. 12, Liberal MP Justin Trudeau (Papineau) told Radio-Canada in Quebec that he could support the idea of separation to help protect socially liberal values such as abortion and same-sex “marriage.” Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau and someone who is often touted as a possible future leader of the beleaguered Liberal Party, was asked whether he [...]
In an election year, the Canadian public can expect to be flagellated with fantasies about the “hidden agenda” of pro-life politicians. When they are not defaming defenders of unborn children as “un-Canadian,” social liberals cry wolf, nagging the public with their own personal nightmares of a scary world in which children in the womb enjoy protection in law. In an interesting reversal, [...]
The Parliamentary Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care highlighted the problem of elder abuse in its landmark report released on November 17, 2011. The report, Not to be Forgotten, a result of the committee’s consultations with stakeholders across the country, makes policy recommendations in the areas of disability issues, elder abuse, suicide prevention, and palliative care. The report identifies elder abuse as [...]
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 [...]