A few thing that caught my eye. This editor’s desk column will be, as it often is, less a column delving into an issue than mentioning a couple items that came across my desk, but for which there wasn’t room in the paper. The leftwing website AlterNet.org had a story by Byard Duncan who wrote about “Maggie,” her university friend in Indiana, [...]
Canada Former Ontario attorney-general and chief justice Roy McMurtry has been made an officer of the Order of Canada, the second highest rank in the order. In 2003, under McMurtry’s leadership, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled the traditional definition of marriage violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom’s guarantee of equality under the law, thereby establishing same-sex “marriage” … In [...]
Disabilities group opposes euthanasia bill WINNIPEG – The Council of Canadians with Disabilities has come out against Bill C-384, the private member’s bill of Francine Lalonde (Bloc, La Pointe-de-l’Île) that, if passed, will legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. The CCD said C-384, the “Right to Die with Dignity Act,” which received first reading in May, puts “Canadians with disabilities at risk.” A [...]
Canada The gay advocacy group EGALE gave its first ever Leadership Award for LGBT (“lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender”) to Jaime Watt, co-chair of the Navigator communications firm and a long-time adviser to Progressive Conservative politicians in Ontario, including running Ontario PC leadership contender Christine Elliott’s campaign this spring. According to Maclean’s, Derek Vanstone, chief of staff to federal Finance Minister Jim [...]
Canada CLC president John Hof says that the British Columba election maintained the status quo, noting that every pro-life MLA seeking re-election won and that several new pro-life MLAs were also elected including Mark Dalton (Lib, Maple Ridge Mission) who was vocal about his pro-life convictions. Also, 61.3 per cent of BC voters opposed the single-transferable vote scheme ... Amendments made [...]
Planned Parenthood releases report OTTAWA – The International Planned Parenthood Federation launched its newest report, “Contraception at a Crossroads,” on April 24 in Ottawa. Approximately 30 people attended the gathering held on Parliament Hill, co-sponsored by the IPPF, Action Canada for Population and Development and the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health. Senator Lucie Pépin was to welcome the attendees, but could not [...]
News in Brief
Canada Sarnia Transit, the municipal bus service in the Ontario border town, banned a LifeCanada ad that read, "9 months: The length of time an abortion is allowed in Canada." A female high school student complained that the city seemed to be endorsing the pro-life position and so the advertisements were removed from six city buses. The city is now considering [...]
CLC launches pro-life petition TORONTO - Campaign Life Coalition launched a petition calling for the decriminalization of abortion. It reads, in part: "Whereas it has been 40 years since May 14, 1969 when Parliament changed the law to permit abortion and since January 28, 1988 Canada has had no law to protect the lives of unborn children. Therefore, your petitioners call upon [...]
Spanish intellectuals petition against abortion MADRID - Approximately 1000 scientists, physicians, academics, and intellectuals have signed the Madrid Manifesto, a statement rejecting further legalization of abortion in Spain. The Socialist Worker's Party has proposed permitting abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and the manifesto is meant to counter the move. "We subscribe to the present Manifesto in defense [...]
Canada Campaign Life Coalition launched a petition calling for the decriminalization of abortion. It reads, in part: "Whereas it has been 40 years since May 14, 1969 when Parliament changed the law to permit abortion and since January 28, 1988 Canada has had no law to protect the lives of unborn children. Therefore, your petitioners call upon Parliament to pass legislation for [...]
Canada For the first time in 11 years, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has given its full support to the annual Canadian National March for Life, to be held this year on May 14. Six bishops, including St. Catharines Bishop James Wingle, Quebec City Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins and Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast will participate in the event [...]
Quebec birth rate increases QUEBEC - The Quebec Institute of Statistics reported that for the fifth year in a row, the province's birth rate increased. Its birth rate of 1.65 children per 100 women of child-bearing age is higher than the national average of 1.59, the first time since 1959 that Quebec's rate has exceeded the Canadian average. The provincial government [...]
Canada When Rod Bruinooge (C-Winnipeg South) wrote a pro-life column in the National Post - see page 3 of this issue - declaring that he will fight to protect the unborn, David Sweet (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale) and Mark Warawa (Langley), two Conservative MPs who signed the CLC questionnaire in 2006 indicating they were pro-life, said that with the current economic turmoil, now is not [...]
Long time pro-life campaigner, Campaign Life Coalition activist and Interim columnist Winifride Prestwich, passed away in her 93rd year on Dec. 6 in Toronto. Prestwich, a prominent geologist and geographer, taught at Toronto's Havergal College. She was a published author of Canadian geography textbooks and was, notably, one of five geologists chosen to examine damage to the Niagara escarpment the first time [...]