Show the Truth in Maritimes
Religion-based hiring backed
Sally Ann calls for conduct code
Policing of gays at issue

Show the Truth in Maritimes

TRURO, N.S. – The Show the Truth tour hit the Maritimes recently, with demonstrators converging in Moncton and Saint John, N.B., as well as Halifax and Truro, N.S. Saint John MP Elsie Wayne was slated to join the group in her city. Media coverage focused as usual on the distressed reactions of passersby who saw the demonstrators’ graphic signs. “I’ve been home for a couple of hours now and I still can’t get (the images on the signs) out of my head,” said one woman. Police said they couldn’t stop the demonstrations because participants were “allowed to express their opinions.”

Religion-based hiring backed

WINNIPEG – An adjudicator has ruled that it is reasonable for a Mennonite Bible college in Manitoba to demand that its office staff be of the Mennonite faith. Donald Knight said Steinbach Bible College was within its right to dismiss Esther Schroen, a Mormon, from her job as an accounting clerk because there was a “bona fide and reasonable requirement” for a particualr religious affiliation. However, Knight’s decision didn’t sit well with the province’s human rights commission, which appointed him. Commission chair Kenneth Filkow said his agency is carefully reviewing the decision because it is concerned about a “broader interpretation” of the decision, which would be “unacceptable.”

Sally Ann calls for conduct code

VANCOUVER – The Salvation Army says it will close a local program unless its staff agree to follow a Christian lifestyle code that includes provisions against pornography, gambling and extra-marital sex. The Army follows in the footsteps of the Catholic school board in Prince George, B.C., which invoked a similar code for its employees. The Salvation Army’s stand was condemned by the British Columbia Government Employees Union, which is negotiating a first contract for employees at an Army facility. The Army says its workers, particularly front-line missionary workers, “must be able to walk the Christian walk as well as talk the talk.”

Policing of gays at issue