Justice Minister John Crosbie has introduced tough new amendments to the Criminal Code which would outlaw child pornography and protect children from sexual abuse and exploitation. In addition, the proposed legislation precisely defines pornography, replacing the vague obscenity offences which made it difficult to obtain convictions against pornographers. Immediate reaction to Mr. Crosbie’s proposals was predictable, weighted to the point of view [...]
In a recent column, I wrote about the “unlearned lessons of history.” But there are many other unlearned lessons which have not been absorbed by society. One of them is the shocking damage which modern contraceptives have done – ad are doing – to women, particularly young women. At the 1985 National Life Conference in England, one of the speakers, a distinguished [...]
Two years after the Badgley Committee investigating sexual offences against children tables its report in the House of Commons, the federal government has announced legislation designed to protect children from sexual assault, exploitation and prostitution. The legislation, introduced by Justice Minister John Crosbie, adopts many of the Badgley recommendations and, unlike the proposed legislation to curb pornography introduced at the same time, [...]
In some medieval accounts, the Holy Grail was the platter, and in others, the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper. The term therefore has suggestions of the most profound religious significance. In the Arthurian legends, only a knight who was pure in heart could attain to a vision of the Grail; sometimes this knight was Parisfal, sometimes Galahad. A journal [...]
Justice O’Connor, joined by Justice Rehnquist, prefaced her dissent with the following words: “This Court’s abortion decisions have already worked a major distortion in the Court’s constitutional jurisprudence…Today’s decision goes further, and makes it painfully clear that no legal rule or doctrine is safe from nullification by this Court when an occasion for its application arises in a case involving state regulation [...]
I agree with much of Justice White’s and Justice O’Connor’s dissents. In my concurrence in the companion case of Roe v. Wade in 1973, I noted that “I do not read the Court’s holdings today as having the sweeping consequences attributed to them by the dissenting Justices; the dissenting views discount the reality that the vast majority of physicians observe the standards [...]
In the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered invalid the duly-passed statutes, relative to abortion, enacted in 43 states, thus opening the way for over 19 million abortions. Of the nine Supreme Court Judges only two dissented: Mr. Justice J. Rehnquist (the recently-nominated Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), and Mr. Justice J. White. [...]
Earlier this year, the executive of a professional association of Roman Catholic judges and lawyers in Toronto was asked by one of its members to take a stand against the continuing illegal operation of the Morgentaler Clinic. After polling its members, the executive decided not to take a position, a decision which has concerned many of its members. The Interim has obtained [...]
Ontario In May of this year, the Justice Committee of the Ontario Legislature recommended placing “sexual orientation” under the Ontario Human Rights Act. The proposal is buried in an omnibus bill with a variety of proposed changes to Ontario Legislation in order to bring these laws in harmony with the 1981 Charter of Rights. A copy of the letter from the president [...]
Nova Scotia It really is a small world! But a very valuable one! At the invitation of friends, John and Betty Whitaker, I recently visited the city of Washington. A former aide to two American presidents, John had very thoughtfully arranged guided tours of the White House, the Capitol, and other prominent attractions for his Canadian visitor. In addition, he had asked [...]
The art of survival is to know when to defend yourself and when not. Residents of Ontario could be just about to lose the most precious thing in live – their moral freedom – without even knowing about it. The hidden threat is buried in something called Bill 7, which the Ontario Legislature is trying to rush through before the summer recess, [...]
At last! The Federal Conservatives appear to have exhibited some backbone: they’ve taken steps to burg the pornography industry. Proposed legislation to ban child pornography has been rightly applauded as a measure necessary to stop the abuse and exploitation of children. However, proposals to define and curtail so-called “adult” pornography has been greeted with derision, and called “obscene,” “censorship” and an “unwelcome” [...]
Ontario Health Minister Murray Elston declared on June 30 that abortions are too difficult to get in some parts of Ontario. He has asked Dr. Marion Powell, director of the Bay Centre for Birth control in Toronto, to “investigate” the geographic and financial “barriers” to more abortions. Powell was hired in mid-June (Toronto Star). Elston’s move is only the latest in a [...]
The Royal Bank of Canada has issued a mortgage loan in excess of $200,000 to abortionist Robert Scott, who recently opened his own illegal abortuary. Officials at the Royal Bank’s Toronto office were reluctant to give any details on the matter, saying that the bank’s dealings with individual customers are confidential. However, one official did say that, according to the bank’s lending [...]
The Ontario government has outlawed the practice of extra-billing by physicians operating in Ontario. The ban, however, is being ignored by the operators of Toronto’s abortuaries. Bill 94, passed by the Ontario Legislature on June 20th, 1986, makes it an offence for a physician to charge more than the rates set out by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. Any physician who does [...]