On Dec. 8, the International Olympic Committee unanimously approved a wide-ranging package of 40 recommendations, the Olympic Agenda 2020, that includes a rewording of its anti-discrimination Principle 6 clause to include a reference to “sexual orientation” as a protected category. The Principle 6 clause of the Olympic Charter will be amended to state that “any form of discrimination with regard to a [...]
I blame Karl Marx for a lot of things, but after inspiring some of the most destructive and blood-thirsty governments in modern history, his most abidingly destructive legacy is hobbling our understanding of the word “class.” For as long as I’ve been alive, when almost anyone talks about the class system they end up invoking images frozen somewhere in the middle of [...]
The College Council of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons is seeking input during an “external consultation” on a draft policy that would force doctors to do abortions and vasectomies and prescribe contraception, even if it violated their moral or religious beliefs. The OCPS is seeking public input until Feb. 20, which is a continuation of the consultation process that began [...]
Last month I wrote about the unease and apprehension that the internet and social media have inspired, within society and even in the precincts of Hollywood. The story so far is that, after marvelling at the massive new fortunes made by entities like Facebook and Twitter, we’ve begun worrying that moving parts of our social and emotional life online might not be [...]
With all of the talk about the deadly Ebola virus I have been reminded about how pro-lifers and Catholics in particular were treated when we dared to criticize conventional wisdom about how to deal with AIDS and HIV. We are condemned because many in the pro-life community highlighted the dangers of condom use in Africa in the attempt to prevent AIDS and [...]
There are many annual Christmas traditions that families and friends share and experience together. This can include caroling in the streets, roasting chestnuts on an open fire, sharing a few glasses of eggnog, and looking at the decorations in department store windows. A popular one in my household is watching classic Christmas animated TV specials. Some of them are still in regular [...]
Monte McNaughton demanded Kathleen Wynne release details of her government’s sex ed plans. Ontario Progressive Conservative Party leadership hopeful Monte McNaughton has challenged the Liberal government of Kathleen Wynne over its plans to introduce a sex ed program. In 2010, Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government nixed its new sex education curriculum after parents and religious groups condemned the program for being [...]
The Supreme Court of Canada began hearing a case on Oct. 14, about whether voluntary prayers at city council meetings as well as displaying religious symbols in city buildings infringe on a person’s freedom of religion. The court will examine whether Mayor Jean Tremblay and the City of Saguenay, Quebec, discriminated against Alain Simoneau, a non-Christian, when he prayed at city council [...]
A new report is urging Ontario lawmakers to institute policies that promote school choice. Toward a Warmer Climate for Ontario’s Private Schools, written by emeritus professor Derek J. Allison from University of Western Ontario for Cardus, a think tank dedicated to the renewal of North American social architecture, is calling for a discussion around greater government support for private schools that has [...]
The remains of six babies were found in a Winnipeg storage locker and police subsequently charged Andrea Giesbrecht, 40, with six counts of concealing the body of a child. Employees at a U-Haul facility in the city’s West Alexander neighbourhood made the discovery on Oct. 20 after going in to clean out the unit because rental payments were not being made. Original [...]
The laying of a criminal charge in the high-profile death of a London, Ont. newborn baby injured in the womb will expose the “inconsistencies” of current Canadian law that protects newborns, pro-life advocates say, while ignoring the same children if they have not yet made “the eight-inch journey down the birth canal.” London police announced Sept. 26 the laying of a belated [...]
Mark Steyn has been writing about the culture for more than a decade and a half, for National Review, the National Post, Maclean’s, The (London) Spectator, his own website (Steyn Online), and numerous other publications. Not a noted environmentalist, he recycles those columns, essays, and blogposts in a must-read collection, The [Un]documented Mark Steyn: Don’t Say You Weren’t Warned by Mark Steyn [...]
On Oct. 2, nearly 100 volunteers inserted 100,000 pink and blue flags on Parliament Hill covering the stretch of lawn from the Confederation Building to the East Block along Wellington Street. Each flag represented a child killed by abortion every year. Mike Schouten of We Need a Law, which organized the display, said “The injustice of abortion is not something Canadians [...]
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms has released its annual report on the state of free speech in Canada’s universities, and it doesn’t bode well for the liberty of students on campus. The 2014 Campus Freedom Index gives four grades in total to each of Canada’s 52 publicly funded universities. The administration and student union at each institution receive two grades based [...]
Teachers union upset with Toronto District School Board trustee Sam Sotiropoulos' tweets. Toronto District School Board trustee Sam Sotiropoulos, who made headlines several months ago for questioning the board’s participation in the gay pride parade, has once again found himself the target of LGBTQ activists. After tweeting two weeks ago that he “reserves the right” to believe transgenderism does not [...]