Paul Tuns: On Oct. 5, Kelly Block's private member's bill, Bill C-230, The Protection of Freedom of Conscience Act, was defeated in a 203-115 vote. Every Conservative MP present for the vote, including leader Pierre Poilievre, voted for the bill, along with independent MP Kevin Vuong (Spadina-Fort York). All present Liberal, NDP, Bloc, and Green MPs voted against the bill. During debate [...]
Paul Tuns: Kelly Block’s C-230, the Protection of Freedom of Conscience Act, had first reading on February 4 and was debated on March 28, but with scheduled breaks including the summer hiatus, it has not yet come up for final vote in the House of Commons. If passed, C-230 would prohibit the firing or refusal to hire medical professionals if the sole [...]
Progressive Conservatism: How Republicans Will Become America’s Natural Governing Party F.H. Buckley (Encounter Books, $41, 254 pages): Progressive Conservative has negative connotations for Canadian social conservatives, but do not be turned off the title of F.H. Buckley’s latest book, Progressive Conservatism. In it, he argues against the elite capture of both the Democrats (woke activists) and Republicans (libertarians) that ignore working class [...]
Andrew Lawton: The minting of Pierre Poilievre as the new Conservative leader shouldn’t surprise anyone. From the time the firebrand Carleton MP launched his campaign, it has been clear that no one was going to catch up to him, or even come close. As always in the aftermath of a leadership race or nomination battle, two words became inescapable: “unity” and “pivot.” [...]
Paul Tuns Analysis: In the last two federal Conservative leadership races, the eventual winner scored victory only after a critical mass of socially conservative party members who backed pro-life leadership candidates with their first and second preferential votes, backed another candidate that some significant portion of rank-and-file pro-life Conservatives found more palatable than the alternatives. In 2017, Andrew Scheer eked past Maxime [...]
John Carpay: In Nanjing, a man crosses the street while the pedestrian light is still red. Within seconds, a billboard-sized screen nearby displays his name, his face and an admonition to obey the traffic lights. The Communist Chinese government surveillance cameras have captured the moment, secured an image of the man’s face, compared it to a central database of faces compiled over [...]
Andrew Lawton: Man does not live on Supreme Court decisions alone. The Kansas abortion referendum should serve as a reminder that culture matters far more than politics does. Last month, Kansans rejected a ballot measure that sought to affirm the Kansas state legislature’s right to restrict abortion access. The proposal was defeated 59 per cent to 41 per cent, which is about [...]
Rory Leishman: In addition to overturning the unfounded and outrageous abortion decision in Roe v. Wade (1976), the recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health raises another fundamental issue: Who should have primary responsibility in a democracy for determining public policy -- unelected judges or elected legislators? It is a question that Canadians [...]
Angelica Vecchiato: The U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 overturn of Roe v. Wade means that abortions in the United States are no longer (and never were) deemed a constitution right. In protest, the pro “choice” side has gone up in arms — and quite literally at that. As early as the Dobbs leak in May — when speculation surrounding the possibility of Roe’s [...]
Paul Tuns: Jason Kenney announced in May he would resign as leader of the United Conservative Party of Alberta, forcing a leadership election to replace him and choose a new premier ahead of next year’s provincial election. Kenney had won 51.4 per cent in a leadership review but immediately announced he would vacate the leadership once the party chose a new leader; [...]
Paul Tuns: In early July, People’s Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier criticized the fact Canada permitted late-term abortion and said political parties should not be afraid of an honest debate about abortion, charging the Conservatives with running away from the issue. In a newsletter to party supporters, Bernier, a former Conservative MP and cabinet minister who split from the party after [...]
Paul Tuns: U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned on July 7 after several senior cabinet ministers resigned from the scandal-plagued government, setting off a leadership race to replace Johnson as both the Conservative Party leader and United Kingdom prime minister. In the U.K., the caucus votes to winnow down the list of leadership contenders to two candidates who are then presented to [...]
Angelica Vecchiato: A recent Ipsos Reid poll suggested that younger Canadians are far less comfortable with abortion at any gestational age than their parents and grandparents. The survey noted that 50 per cent of young adults between the ages of 18-34, which is made up of both Millennials and Generation Z, believe abortion should be permitted whenever a woman wants one compared to 63 per [...]
Angelica Vecchiato: Conservative leadership candidate and MP Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand-Norfolk) made an appearance at Campaign Life Coalition’s (CLC) headquarters in Hamilton as part of a southwestern Ontario tour in mid-July for a quick meet and greet with this year’s summer interns. The visit to the young pro-life activists followed a breakfast at the MacDonald-Cartier club in Hamilton to discuss her platform with [...]
Paul Tuns: A report by Campaign Life Coalition noted that the Trudeau government is ignoring the pleas of more than 12,000 Canadians demanding the government not punitively strip pro-life pregnancy centres of their charitable tax status. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland posted the government’s official response that the Trudeau government is “committed to taking action” against the pro-life groups. The petition, launched by [...]