Canada On May 8 NDP MP Niki Ashton (Churchill), critic for women’s affairs, tabled Motion-510 affirming abortion rights that read: “In the opinion of the House … a woman’s right to choose abortion is a fundamental question of equality and human rights, both in Canada and around the world.” But a week after announcing the motion, the NDP dropped their bid to [...]
Canada On April 1, NDP MP Charlie Angus’ motion M-456, seconded by Conservative pro-life MP Maurice Vellacott and seven other MPs, to create a national palliative care strategy had its first hour of debate in Parliament. “Support for human dignity and quality of life, with investments in pain management and other palliative tools, is where the Canadian conversation should go,” Vellacott told [...]
Canada Alberta Progressive Conservative Premier Alison Redford resigned on March 19 following a caucus revolt over extravagant travel expenses including a $45,000 tab to attend Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December. Redford, who became leader and premier in 2011 and was elected in 2012, supports legal abortion and same-sex “marriage,” and came out against conscience rights in the 2012 provincial campaign … For [...]
Canada The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada and the Canadian Association of Radiologists both said an updated policy statement on ultrasounds is necessary with an eye to stop using the technology to determine the gender of the unborn child or for non-medical purposes. “This technology should not be used for the sole purpose of determining fetal gender without a medical [...]
Canada Pro-life MP Rob Anders is once again facing a challenge from the Red Tory wing of the party for the Conservative nomination in his riding. Ron Liepert, a former provincial finance minister, announced he would challenge the incumbent in Calgary-Signal Hill, a new riding that makes up most of Calgary West, the riding Anders has held since 1997. Liepert’s supporters launched [...]
Canada Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre) announced on Nov. 20 that he will introduce a new motion in Canada’s Parliament to promote respect for all human beings before the law. A media advisory stated the motion will “focus on legal recognition of the equal worth and dignity of every human being.” In 2012, by a 91-203 vote, the House of Commons [...]
Canada Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau held a “Ladies Night” fundraiser on Nov. 7 in Toronto in which he invited women “to (really) get to know the future prime minister,” during a Q&A focusing on women’s issues. Conservative and NDP MPs complained it was sexist and sexually suggestive, but American feminist icon Gloria Steinem defended Trudeau’s pitch: “If the problem is that [...]
Canada In its submission on Bill 52, “An Act Respecting End-of-Life Care,” to the Quebec committee on health and social services, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said, “the proposed changes reflect a fundamental transformation in the doctor patient relationship which runs contrary to the established ethic and values of the medical profession throughout Quebec, Canada and around the world.” The EPC also stated, [...]
Canada Stephen McNeil, the leader of the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia, has said his party “will allow our elected candidates to freely voice their opinions on matters of personal conscience.” In a letter to Campaign Life Coalition Nova Scotia, McNeil acknowledged that both among the public and within the political class “there are a wide variety of opinions” on moral issues [...]
Canada In July, federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau called for the legalization of marijuana to help keep the illicit drug out of the hands of children, saying that criminalization has not worked. In August, Trudeau, who says he does not drink coffee, admitted to smoking pot “five or six times” including at a dinner party in his home since becoming an MP [...]
This fall, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island will see an influx of pro-life visitors. The annual LifeCanada conference, titled “Lighting the Way,” is being hosted by Prince Edward Island Right to Life from Oct. 24-26. According to Ann Marie Tomlins, president of PEI Right to Life, the last national pro-life conference held in Atlantic Canada was five years ago, in Moncton, N.B., and [...]
Canada Statistics Canada released its Fertility Overview report that from 2009 to 2011, Canada’s fertility rate dropped steadily from 1.67 to 1.63 to 1.61. Demographers consider 2.1 children per woman to be replacement level fertility, a rate Canada has not attained in more than four decades … The family of Irene Dube, a woman who died at the Ramsey Lake Health Centre [...]
Canada Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne has called end-of-life decisions, including euthanasia, “the great health care issue of our time” in an interview with the Toronto Sun. The baby boomer generation is nearing retirement and will require more health resources as they age. By 2036, approximately one out of four Ontarians will be aged 65 or older. “I don’t think it’s something [...]
Canada The B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of Cecilia “Sissy” Von Dehn and Donald Spratt’s 2011 conviction in provincial court following a 2009 arrest for standing inside the bubble zone outside the Everywoman`s abortuary in Vancouver as they distributed copies of the B.C. Access to Abortion Services Act (which governs the bubble zone) and wearing a sign reading: “Warning! You [...]
Canada The Québec Federation of Planned Parenthood and Dr. Audrey Gonin of the University of Québec in Montreal are attacking the province’s pregnancy help centres, attempting to locate those who visited one to share information about being dissuaded “from considering the option of abortion” by contacting them. Gonin said the centres give out “biased” information, namely that abortion may cause breast cancer [...]