While 25,000 pro-lifers took part in the National March for Life in Ottawa on May 9, thousands more stood up for life in regional marches across the country.
In Victoria, B.C., an estimated 2,000 people, including many high school and university students, walked from Centennial Square to the British Columbia legislature. Like the National March for Life, the B.C. March highlighted the issue of gendercide.
Anastasia Pearse, media spokesperson for the March for Life, said, “killing females because of their gender is the ultimate form of gender discrimination,” and “our goal with this year’s March for Life, themed ‘End Female Gendercide,’ is to bring awareness to this human rights issue.”
Speakers included Natalie Hudson-Sonnen, executive director of LifeCanada; Rev. Dr. Rob Fitterer from the Place Community in Victoria; Alexandra Jezierski, who founded the Letters for Life Campaign at age 17; and Mike Schouten, director of the WeNeedaLaw.ca campaign.
In Edmonton, the Alberta March for Life attracted a record crowd of 2,300, as buses of high school students from communities such as Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House. Emcees included Denise Mountenay and Joanne Byfield. The procession from the Alberta legislature to Churchill Square was led by 20 Knights of Columbus. The crowd heard speeches from John Carpay, president of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms in Calgary, Brian Rushfeldt of Canada Family Action, Rosey Resenke from the Wilberforce Project of Alberta Pro-Life, and Gary Johnson, state deputy of the Knights of Columbus, as well as two post-abortive women and Notre Dame High School teacher Carl Fakeley.
The Alberta march concluded with a “panakida,” a prayer service for the dead offered for aborted children and presided by a group of the Ukranian Orthodox Church Community of Alberta.
The Saskatchewan March for Life in Regina was held at the provincial legislature, where the master of ceremonies was Knights of Columbus Pro-Life Chair Louis Roth. Speakers included Denise Hounjet-Roth, president of Campaign Life Coalition Saskatchewan, Marcy Millette, president of Saskatchewan Pro Life Association, Nancy Garez with the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, youth pastor Tim Harrison from Harvest City Church, pastor Charles Cougar from the Regina Evangelical Ministerial Association, and Fr. Vladimir Mudri of St. Basil’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Regina.
Hounjet-Roth spoke about a broad pro-life agenda that could be implemented at the provincial level, including defunding abortion, conscience rights, and right to know legislation.
Fr. Mudri spoke about life being a gift before it is a right, and said government must defend and promote justice, including for the unborn.
The Manitoba March for Life was held in Winnipeg, where the estimated 900 participants doubled last year’s attendance. Local Knights of Columbus organized the events at The Forks where Monsignor Louis McCloskey, state chaplain for Knights in the province, led the opening prayer, and state deputy Merlyn Onyschuk served as master of ceremonies. Archbishop Albert LeGatt of St. Boniface spoke, offering a reflection on gendercide abroad and in Canada, before closing with a prayer.
The Nova Scotia March for Life attracted about 100 participants to Province House in Halifax. They heard speakers including Ellen Chesal, executive director Campaign Life Coalition NS, Julie Culshaw, executive director 40 Days for Life, and Fr. Rob Arsenault, pastor of the Holy Trinity Pastoral Unit, Halifax. Each of their talks are available at the CLC Nova Scotia website. Culshaw stressed that life was a gift from God and that the “battle to end abortion is a spiritual battle.” She said that the 40 Days for Life Vigil’s “prayerful presence bears witness to the reality of God in a world that chooses to deny Him.”
Halifax also held a candlelight vigil the evening before the march, which attracted 40 participants.
New Brunswick Right to Life reported that more than 400 people took part in the New Brunswick March for Life in Fredricton on May 16, a week after the other regional and national march. There were two prayer services, a rally at the legislature, and a vigil near the Morgentaler abortion mill. Among the speakers were Liberal MLA Bill Fraser and Progressive Conservative MLA Jack Carr, who greeted the pro-life crowd.
The Newfoundland March for Life was organized by Pro-Life Newfoundland brought out 15 pro-lifers to the Confederation Building in St. John’s. Patrick Hanlon of Pro-Life Newfoundland said the province’s major pro-life demonstration, the Good Friday Vigil, gets “hundreds” of pro-life witnesses. He told LifeSiteNews.com, “however, we feel compelled to participate in the March for Life to ensure that every province across Canada, especially the most eastern one, is represented on that day.”
