On March 26, the Ontario Court of Appeals upheld a perverse 2010 decision which ruled that the Criminal Code’s laws prohibiting keeping a common bawdy house and communicating for the purpose of soliciting prostitution violated Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Without a thought for the victims of prostitution, the lower court struck down these prudent legal protections on [...]
The media and Liberal Party partied like it was 1982 and wondered why not everyone wanted to join them. But as pro-lifers warned in the negotiations leading up to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it has been a flawed document, divisive and undemocratic. Worst of all, for all the trumpeting of its protection of individual rights, it does nothing to protect [...]
Between 1500 and 2000 concerned parents and taxpayers turned out for a hastily organized protest at Queen’s Park to call upon the McGuinty government to drop its so-called Safe Schools Act, calling the supposedly anti-bullying bill a Trojan horse to introduce gay activism into the schools and undermine parents as the primary educator of their children when it comes to matters [...]
Conservative MP Stephen Woodworth’s motion M-312 calling upon Parliament to debate whether an unborn child is a human being and the human rights implications of those findings, is scheduled for debate on April 26. The Kitchener Center MP introduced his motion in early February and in the first week of March the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs’ subcommittee on [...]
Elusive Destiny: The Political Vocation of John Napier Turner by Paul Litt (UBC Press, $39.95, 494 pages) When I first heard that there was a biography of John Turner being published, my reaction was simple: why? Turner was prime minister for the summer of 1984 (Parliament never sat while he was in office) and he did not seem to leave much of [...]
The campaign to scrap Canada’s ‘hate speech’ clause moved one step closer to victory Feb. 15 as the House of Commons voted 158-131 to send it to committee. Of those MPs who voted, the bill was unanimously supported by the majority Conservative government and opposed by all opposition members, except Newfoundland MP Scott Simms (Liberal, Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor). After consideration by the Standing [...]
On Feb. 6, MP Stephen Woodworth filed a motion with the Clerk of the House of Commons to ask Parliament to form a special committee to study what he called Canada’s “archaic” definition of human being, a move broadly supported by the Canadian pro-life movement. Woodworth, a Conservative MP from Kitchener-Centre, notes that Section 223(1) of the Criminal Code which defines human [...]
Candidate fought for daughter with Trisomy 18 Isabella Santorum is one of the most compelling aspects of U.S. presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s campaign. Nicknamed Bella, Santorum’s three-year-old daughter has been the focus of media attention because of her father’s care of and pride for her. Bella suffers from Trisomy 18, a rare and often fatal genetic disorder that affects one in 3,000 [...]
On Feb. 12, Liberal MP Justin Trudeau (Papineau) told Radio-Canada in Quebec that he could support the idea of separation to help protect socially liberal values such as abortion and same-sex “marriage.” Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau and someone who is often touted as a possible future leader of the beleaguered Liberal Party, was asked whether he [...]
In an election year, the Canadian public can expect to be flagellated with fantasies about the “hidden agenda” of pro-life politicians. When they are not defaming defenders of unborn children as “un-Canadian,” social liberals cry wolf, nagging the public with their own personal nightmares of a scary world in which children in the womb enjoy protection in law. In an interesting reversal, [...]
Grassroots Liberals: Organizing for Local and National Politics by Royce Koop (UBC Press, 212 pages, $29.95 paperback) There has been much talk in the past few years about renewing the Liberal Party by focusing on its structure, from the federal executive and the provincial wings of the federal party down to the constituency associations at the riding level. Indeed, reform of their [...]
For three days in mid-January, more than 3000 members of the Liberal Party of Canada debated and voted on measures they hoped would rejuvenate the party’s fortunes after finishing third in last May’s federal election. Speaker after speaker at the Jan. 13-15 biennial convention in Ottawa either urged the party to be bold or congratulated the Grits for being [...]
In 1729, Jonathan Swift, Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, anonymously published a satirical pamphlet entitled, “A Modest Proposal,” arguing that Ireland’s food shortage – and many other social ills – could be assuaged with a simple, two-pronged solution: the murder of infants and the cannibalism of their corpses. Cunningly clothed in the language of moderation, Swift offered infanticide to the [...]
In the week before Christmas, a Conservative Kitchener-area MP, created a media storm when he issued a press release saying it was time for Parliament to reconsider the country’s antiquated Criminal Code provisions which do not acknowledge the child in the womb as a human being. Section 223 of the Criminal Code deals with homicide and Section 223(1) defines human being [...]
On Dec 6., the Institute for Canadian Values held a press conference at Queen’s Park condemning the Liberal government’s anti-bullying legislation as a violation of the religious rights of denominational schools, a threat against religious freedom, and an assault on the rights of parents to be the primary educators of their children. Dr. Charles McVety of Canada Christian College, Jack Fonseca [...]