A northern Ontario city on Lake Superior held its first-ever pro-life conference, bringing pro-life leaders from across the continent together with local pro-life activists and supporters.
The All Points North: Facing Truth conference was hosted by local right to life group and Alliance for Life Ontario and was held Dec. 5-6 at the United Reformed Church.
Speakers included Vicki Thorn of Project Rachel; Camille de Blasi Pauley, co-founder and president of Healing the Culture; songwriter and performer David MacDonald, whose music permeates Parliament Hill and the youth conference each year during the National March for Life in Ottawa; Jakki Jeffs, executive director of Alliance for Life Ontario; Jim Hughes, national president of Campaign Life Coalition; and Andrea Mrozek, founder of the website ProWomanProLife.com and manager of research at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, who was the banquet keynote speaker.
The conference topics dealt with numerous life and family issues, including a strategy for tomorrow; Crushed, But Silent No More; the science of abortion and mental health; pro-life evangelization; euthanasia; the international scene; abortion’s aftermath and much more.
The meals and breaks offered many opportunities to meet and greet conference attendees, including a large contingent of youth who were encouraged to participate by the local university club, Lakehead Life Support, which has lately been under fire from a student union that is seeking to restrict pro-life activism on campus.
Pastors Barry of the United Reformed Church, Allan from the Free Baptist, Fathers Franciso Blazek and Rick Kowalchuk and seminarian Terry Sawchuk were present throughout and participants said they appreciated the spiritual perspective and insight into the scope of the attacks on life and family today they provided.
“Congratulations are in order to Lakehead University Life Support, Thunder Bay RTL and Alliance for Life Ontario for their initiative to re-vitalize the Thunder Bay pro-life community,” Hughes told The Interim. “It was certainly worth the trip.”
About 125 people attended the conference.
