Paul Tuns: James C. Dobson, a child psychologist who founded Focus on the Family after seeing first-hand the toll of the social tumult of the 1960s, died on August 21 at the age of 89. A cause of death was not provided by the family’s spokesman. Dobson was an evangelical Christian, the son of a preacher in the Church of the Nazarene, [...]
Paul Tuns: On Sept. 10, Charlie Kirk was killed during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University by a gunman opposed to Kirk’s political views. Charlie Kirk co-founded Turning Point USA in 2012 to advocate for conservative positions on high school and university campuses. TPUSA hosts annual conventions such as the Student Action Summit and Young Women’s Leadership Summit, and organized Kirk’s [...]
Special editorial: For Charlie Kirk, the event at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10 began like so many others. In front of a crowd of about 3000, the Turning Point USA founder and president engaged in spirited debate, fielding questions from all quarters, taking on all comers. Kirk’s responses were typical: Drawing on conservative values and, even more, on his sincere and [...]
From the editor's desk One of the necessary ingredients to reversing tanking fertility rates is restoring the vaunted place of motherhood and one way to do that is to make life easier for moms and families. Katherine Boyle, general partner at the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, tweeted some policy ideas on how to accomplish this: “Here’s some super easy things states [...]
Kesiah Beere: On June 3, the Trump administration rescinded a directive from the former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary that expanded the scope of Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) services and required abortion to be provided as emergency care in hospitals. EMTALA, enacted in 1986, is a U.S. federal law that guarantees a person’s access to emergency medical care [...]
Gideon Spevak: A trend has been forming within Western democratic institutions, one that contradicts the democratic ideal of such bodies: Elected officials face censure and being stripped of their rights (and obligations) as members of elected bodies to represent their constituents — at the hands of their fellow members, with whom they often find ideological differences. In May 2025, the U.S. Supreme [...]
Tanis Cortens: Sean Feucht, an American Christian rocker, is experiencing a wave of venue cancellations across Canada. He was scheduled to begin his “Revive in 25” Canadian tour with a performance at the York Redoubt National Historic Site near Halifax, N.S., on July 16. Parks Canada revoked his concert permit, citing “heightened public safety concerns.” According to the CBC, some residents living [...]
Rick McGinnis: Interim writer, Rick McGinnis, Amusements With the recent announcement that government employees must return to their work in office, the physical remnants of the COVID-19 lockdowns are mostly gone. Do you remember where your vaccination documents are? The arrows on the floors of stores telling us which direction to walk are gone, as are the stickers on subway [...]
Paul Tuns: The Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada is challenging the constitutionality of a London, Ont., bylaw that is designed to restrict pro-life speech, while the Ontario Court of Appeal has agreed to hear the Christian Heritage Party’s challenge to the city of Hamilton’s refusal to accept a bus advertisement that questioned transgender ideology. The Ontario Court of Appeal has [...]
Paul Tuns: Since February 2024, the Progressive Conservative government of Tim Houston has opened two facilities geared toward youth providing so-called gender-affirming care. In February, Nova Scotia Health opened a youth “clinic” in Kentville (Kentville Gender Affirming Care Clinic) and in March, opened one in Bridgewater. The facilities – which have pediatricians, mental health practitioners, nurses, and pharmacies on-site -- provide puberty [...]
Paul Tuns: On June 17, the British House of Commons voted 379-136 for an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that would end prosecutions of women who obtain abortions. In 1967, the Abortion Act permitted abortion up to 28 weeks if approved by two doctors under supposedly limited circumstances such as to protect the health of the mother. The law was [...]
Paul Tuns The Conservative Party’s 2026 national convention, scheduled to be held in Ottawa, has been moved to Calgary following a vote by the party’s national council. The convention, to be held Jan. 29-31 will also serve as the location for a party constitution-required leadership review. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who lost his own seat despite improving the party’s seat and vote [...]
Kesiah Beere: On May 20, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted the Pandemic Agreement after three years of development and negotiations. Started in December 2021, the Agreement was proposed to implement strategies to “make the world safer from – and more equitable in response to – future pandemics,” according to the WHO. On the surface, such an international agreement may seem appealing [...]
Unholy Kingdom: Religion, Corruption and Violence in Saudi Arabia Malise Ruthven (Verso, $46, $368) BBC editor Malise Ruthven has written an expose of Saudi Arabia, the Unholy Kingdom, the alliance between the House of Saud – the royal family that ruled modern Saudi Arabia since its founding – and extremist imams who he labels a “sectarian Islamic cult.” Their extreme Wahhabism has become [...]
The Baton and the Cross: Russia’s Church from Pagans to Putin Lucy Ash (Icon Books, $36, 384 pages) Journalist Lucy Ash has written a broadside attack on the Russian Orthodox Church and its relationship with Moscow, which inevitably focuses on how the Church provides ideological backing for Vladimir Putin’s regime. Ash, who has worked as a foreign correspondent in Russia for three [...]