Last Fall, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said that his government intends to introduce pension splitting for seniors and that the Conservatives are open to income splitting for couples. The idea is to let couples split their income between them to pay lower taxes as a unit than the higher income earner or pensioner would individually. Presently, Canadians are taxed as individuals [...]
On Dec. 14, the Ireland High Court rejected a lesbian couple’s demand to have their Canadian “marriage” recognized in Ireland, in a landmark ruling closely watched by both sides of the international marriage debate. Justice Elizabeth Dunne decided against the claim of Dr. Katherine Zappone and Dr. Anne Louise Gilligan, who had argued that the state and Revenue Commissioners had violated their [...]
Did Harper really want to win it or was he playing politics? On Dec. 7, the Conservative government’s motion to re-open the debate on same-sex “marriage” was defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 175-123. If you believe the pundits and the politicians, on Dec. 7, Canadians debated the issue of same-sex “marriage” for the last time and the [...]
“Are they all yours?” “She’s pregnant again?” “You know how that happens, right?” “How do you do it? You must make a tonne of money!” “You must be a saint!” “I could never do what you do!” These are just some of the negative and confused comments heard by parents of “large” families. Sometimes, the comments can be worse when all the [...]
On Nov. 9, a declaration by 43 faith groups summarizing the traditional understanding of marriage was presented at an Ottawa press conference. The statement highlighted marriage’s importance as the primary nurturer of children. It also noted the threat to freedom of religion and freedom of expression posed by the implementation of same-sex “marriage.” The “Declaration on Marriage” was designed to provide “guidance” [...]
By the mainstream press, he is being remembered as a “much-admired” man noted for his “brilliance,” “intelligence,” “eloquence,” “courage,” “prodigious brain” and “encompassing empathy,” among other qualities. But although one of his legacies is the extension of full funding to Catholic high schools, former Ontario attorney-general Ian Scott is also being recalled by pro-life and pro-family advocates as the man who, as [...]
Warned: Canada’s Revolution Against Faith, Family and Freedom Threatens America by Tristan Emmanuel (Freedom Press Canada Inc., $23.95, 190 pages) Tristan Emmanuel is one of Canada’s most vocal opponents of the redefinition of marriage. He heads the Equipping Christians for the Public Square Centre and is the author of Christophobia. In the interest of full disclosure, he sits on this paper’s editorial [...]
Court Challenges Program eliminated, Status of Women chopped Interim Staff When the Harper Conservative government announced $1 billion in spending cuts in late September, special interest groups, their friends in the media and opposition politicians went ballistic. Opposition leader and militant homosexual rights advocate Bill Graham attacked the reductions as “vindictive, mean-spirited cuts targeted at the weak, the needy, the vulnerable and [...]
Tories deliver in several important areas Many social conservatives did not have high expectations for the first term of a Harper-led Conservative government. They put their faith in the Conservative party due in part to Stephen Harper’s promise to revisit the same-sex “marriage” issue and because of the large number of pro-life MPs within the Tory caucus as compared to the other [...]
Judy Parejko will never forget her ninth birthday. She was recovering from the funeral of her mother, who had passed away after a year-and-a-half struggle with cancer.” It was just my dad, my four sisters and me,” Judy tells The Interim. This childhood tragedy became the first step in Judy’s journey as one of North America’s most outspoken opponents of “no-fault” divorce. [...]
Adultery harms the relationship between parents and between parent and child. Theresa Smyth explores the issue. No-fault divorce has spawned an entire industry which family court mediator Judy Parejko has said no to. How does adultery impact children? The high-profile affairs of public figures and parents like Tie Domi and Belinda Stronach serve as a challenge to defenders of traditional marriage. We [...]
Nearly nine months into an interminably long Liberal leadership campaign, moral issues have made nary a mark. Looking at the numerous speeches, major media interviews, policy platforms and candidates’ debates, abortion has been mentioned by just one leadership candidate, while a few have praised the Martin government for adopting same-sex “marriage.” Otherwise, there has been very little talk about moral issues. Michael [...]
A version of this article orginally appeared as our August 2003 editorial. 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 [...]
The incoherent statism of same-sex ‘marriage’ Shortly after the Americans liberated Iraq, they changed the Iraqi traffic code, because it was enforced by Baathist-appointed traffic police who would pocket fines as often as they would properly enforce the code. But “cleaning up” the corrupt institution caused horrible traffic jams in a city where car bombs are the weapon of choice. William Langewiesche [...]
The same-sex “marriage” controversy is once again heating up newspaper columns. And once again, some in the liberal press are mocking people of faith. Columnists have led the charge, for it would seem that on the whole, editors show more restraint. A recent striking example was an attack piece written by Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette published on August 5. To [...]