A philosopher once pithily observed that “the map is not the territory.” The same can certainly be said of statements about the Roman Pontiff made in the mainstream media: they do not offer trustworthy maps for navigating the territory of what Pope Francis actually did or said on any occasion. One always needs a ressourcement, a return to the sources, when judging [...]
Mary Wagner Judge Mavin Wong sentenced pro-life prisoner of conscience Mary Wagner to 10 months in jail May 5, following Wagner’s April 16 conviction on one count of mischief and two of breach of probation. Crown prosecutor Craig Power asked for a sentence of six months for the mischief charge, and ten months for the breach of probation charges. Power [...]
The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) has launched the “Give Us Time” postcard campaign in response to the Supreme Court of Canada’s assisted suicide ruling. When the Carter v. Canada decision was released on February 6, the Criminal Code prohibition against assisted suicide was struck down. Previously, section 241 of the Code stated that everyone who aids another person in committing suicide, or [...]
Linda Gibbons Pro-life prisoner of conscience Linda Gibbons walked free May 15 after more than seven weeks in jail following her March 24 arrest outside a Toronto abortion facility while peacefully sidewalk counseling. Gibbons has been arrested numerous times in the past for violating “bubble zone” laws that prohibit pro-life activities within a certain radius of Toronto-area abortion facilities. A [...]
Rory Leishman The issue was brought before the Court by Alain Simoneau, a professed atheist in Saguenay, a municipality in the Lac-St.-Jean (Maria Chapdelaine) region of northern Quebec. In 2006, Simoneau filed a complaint against the municipality with the Quebec Commission des droits de la personne on the ground that the longstanding practice of reciting a Christian prayer at the [...]
Six years after I was laid off from my job at a national daily newspaper and sent back out to the uncertainties of freelancing as a writer and photographer, I’ve found myself with a steady gig again. Of those six years I can’t say much except that it’s no way to earn a living. The new job is more interesting – editing [...]
CLC's Jack Fonseca said protests against sex-ed will continue. Parents across Ontario are still outraged at the changes proposed to the provincial sexual education curriculum. Last October, Premier Kathleen Wynne announced a number of updates, including discussions of gender fluidity in Grade 3 (aimed at 7 and 8-year-old students), masturbation in Grade 6 (for 12 and 13-year-old students), and anal [...]
Helen Ward, president of the parental childcare-focused charity Kids First Parents Association of Canada, has published a case study of daycare usage in Toronto. The study, entitled, “Is there really a Daycare Shortage?” was released by the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada (IMFC). It aims to “examine daycare demand and availability” in the city. Data shows that “rather than a shortage [...]
Editor’s Note: Mary Wagner is currently serving a 10-month prison sentence for attempting to counsel women seeking abortions at Toronto’s Bloor West Village Women’s Clinic. This letter is addressed to the National March for Life in Ottawa, an excerpt of which was read on Parliament Hill on May 14. Mary Wagner Dear Jim Hughes and friends, organizers of the [...]
On or around May 14, there were eight marches for life in each of the provincial capitals except Toronto and Quebec City, drawing many thousands of pro-lifers to join the call to “let life win,” the theme of this year’s National March for Life in Ottawa. B.C. Catholic reported that there were more than 2000 demonstrators, including 500 high school students, in [...]
Photo Anna Dzieciol In what was the largest National March for Life marking the 46th anniversary of the Omnibus Bill that legalized abortion-on-demand in Canada, more than 25,000 pro-lifers demanded “let life win.” Campaign Life Coalition national president Jim Hughes told The Interim that he personally counted more than 25,000 marchers. CLC organizes the annual event in the nation’s capital, [...]
In a statement issued last month, the Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) declared its opposition “to the evident statutory and institutional bias that exists in Ontario against the free-expression rights of pro-life campaigners.” We are grateful for their clear-eyed recognition that the institutions which ought to have protected our Charter rights have failed us so flagrantly. The violation of the rights of [...]
NCLN's Rebecca Richmond welcomed Ontario Civil Liberties Association paper on free speech being denied to pro-lifers. The Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) released a position paper commenting on “the evident statutory and institutional bias that exists in Ontario against the free-expression rights of pro-life campaigners.” Violations of these rights include “university-campus suppressions of student pro-life events, and an unconstitutional statute [...]
A court action was settled in favour of a pro-life activist apprehended for distributing pro-life literature on campus. Nicholas McLeod of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform was ordered to stop handing out the pamphlets at Mount Royal University (MRU) on Feb. 19, 2013, by a security guard, who found it “offensive.” McLeod refused, citing R. v. Whatcott, an Alberta ruling which [...]
Pro-life advocates are all too aware of the damage abortion can do. Besides killing preborn children, their mothers often face unimaginable physical and emotional consequences. These complications may not be traced back to their abortion experience until years later. Yet Alliance for Life Ontario (AFLO) knows there is another demographic whose pain is often unacknowledged: the fathers of aborted children. AFLO executive [...]