Canada Ed Stemlach, a populist whom Campaign Life Coalition rated pro-life with exceptions, won the leadership of the Alberta Progressive Conservative party and has become premier of the province. He upset the front-running former Alberta treasurer and Red Tory Jim Dinning and rookie socially conservative MLA Ted Morton ... Former interim Liberal leaderBill Graham, about whom it was once reported that he paid a [...]
Canada In an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, London Bishop Ronald Fabro said that when it comes to voting, Catholics should give abortion and euthanasia a priority over issues such as war and the death penalty ... By-elections will be held in Repentigny (Quebec) and London North Centre (Ontario) on Nov. 27. Possible contenders in the London North Centre election include Diane Haskett, the [...]
Canada A National Post story has confirmed the suspicions of pro-life organizations that claimed Conservative MP Leon Benoit’s Unborn Victims of Violence private member’s legislation, which was deemed non-votable by a parliamentary committee, was influenced by the government. Reporter Peter O’Neil, through a Freedom of Information search, discovered that Justice Minister Vic Toews was advised in an unsigned document from Justice Ministry [...]
Canada A Leger Marketing poll has found that the gender gap on the question of opposition to abortion is small: 35 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women say abortion is immoral ...Sue Wilkinsonand Celia Kitzinger, a lesbian couple in England who married in Canada in 2003, want the British government to recognize their marriage. Britain High Court has [...]
Canada The Conservatives are pushing for passage of a bill that would raise the age of consent from 14 to 16 although Justice Minister Vic Toews has attempted to dull criticism that the Tories would criminalize “puppy love” with a close-in-age exemption. The exemption applies to 14-16 year olds who have intercourse with another who is no more than five years older. [...]
Canada Columnist, broadcaster and Interim contributor Michael Coren wrote a column in the National Post claiming that he was “blacklisted” from a political panel on the CBC News Sunday program in which he was originally scheduled to appear. He said it was because of the Mother Corps’ objections to “certain conservative, particularly morally conservative, voices in the media” ... Canadian Catholic and [...]
Canada Social liberals Paul Martin, Belinda Stronach and Paul Godfrey announced they will not be running for the leadership of the federal Liberal party. All supported abortion and same-sex "marriage." Stronach was thought to be interested in the leadership, but party rules that limited spending and fundraising and emphasized party connections were probably prohibitive for the former Magna International executive. Godfrey, a [...]
Canada Speaking at the party’s policy convention in Niagara Falls, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader John Tory said that parents with children in private religious schools will get help, most likely in the form of tax credits, with tuition fees if his party is elected in next year’s election. When he ran for the PC leadership in 2004, Tory indicated that he opposed [...]
Canada Peter Merrifield, an RCMP officer who sought the Conservative Party nomination in Barrie, Ont., was punished for his political views after it was discovered that his campaign material was deemed hate literature for defending traditional marriage. The RCMP said it "would be in the best interest of the RCMP ... if he was assigned to other duties, not related to politics," [...]
Canada The Canadian Abortion Rights Action League is changing its name to the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada. In October, CARAL officially closed its Ottawa doors, only to reopen under its new name. CARAL’s website explained: “Now that abortion is just one of the many reproductive services available to women, CARAL has closed its doors and discontinued its activities” ... Svend Robinson, the openly [...]
Canada B.C. Supreme Court Justice Nicole Garson rules that contrary to statutes, a homosexual affair constitutes adultery. Thus, she grants Shelley Pickering an immediate divorce, rather than require her to wait for the mandatory one-year separation period to end under Canada’s no-fault divorce law ... The Toronto Star reports that some federal Liberals are urging former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae to seek a seat in [...]
Canada Justice Minister Irwin Cotler has again said he would explore how to make the appointment of judges more “transparent” and “accountable.” He said he will invite the public to send the Justice Department suggestions on a replacement for Supreme Court justice John Major, who is retiring in December ... Former Reform and independent MP Jim Pankiw is petitioning the Federal Court to exempt politicians [...]
Canada Former Superior Court of Ontario chief justice Patrick Lesage has called for a more open and accountable way of choosing judges. He told the Globe and Mail that a standing committee made up of MPs, senators and lawyers should compile a list of candidates for judicial appointment to submit for consideration by the prime minister. Quebec Chief JusticeMichel Robert also called for a [...]
Canada A Catholic Insight analysis of voting records and public statements finds that 72 per cent of Catholic MPs support Bill C-38, the government’s legislation redefining marriage to include homosexual couples. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that 93 per cent of Quebec Catholic MPs support C-38, compared to 60 per cent of Catholic MPs in the rest of Canada ... [...]
MP David Kilgour (Edmonton Southeast) has quit the Liberal Party and announced that he will not run again ... Liberal MP Pat O’Brien (London-Fanshawe) flirts with quitting the Liberal caucus. But he pledges to stay when Prime Minister Paul Martin promises to ask a legislative committee to hold public hearings on the issue of same-sex “marriage,” instead of closed hearings that would [...]