By Paul Tuns
The Interim
Pro-life, pro-family groups in four provinces are urging citizens who hold traditional values to get involved in local politics.
Municipal (city council) and school board elections will be held in Nova Scotia Oct. 21, in Saskatchewan Oct. 25 and in Ontario Nov. 14. Municipal elections will be held in Prince Edward Island Nov. 6.
Campaign Life Coalition Nova Scotia president Herm Wills told The Interim local elections may even be more important than federal and provincial contests because of the direct influence municipal governments, and especially school boards, have on our lives.
“We always talk about children being the future,” Wills said, “but we ignore the schools. Schools are trying to shape the moral beliefs of our children contrary to what we believe.”
He pointed specifically to radical sex-ed classes and the promotion of homosexuality as examples of the morality forced upon school children. “Homosexual activists and feminists have advanced their agenda through the schools. It’s time we noticed that and got involved.”
Phil Lees, president of the Hamilton-Wentworth Family Action Council, agreed pro-family citizens must be involved. He told The Interim his organization has recruited several candidates for school board trustee and city council.
Lees said schools cannot be allowed to continue dismissing the concerns of parents who object to sex-ed programs that promote contraception, abortion and “homosexuality as a positive choice,” what books are read in class and the teaching of radical environmentalism.
“Public schools need input from all sorts of people, but right now there is no voice for traditional values,” he said.
He said pro-family voters must contact candidates to determine their stands on issues. He counsels voters to question school board trustees on their stands on sex-ed and respecting parental wishes.
Pointing to the close connection between Planned Parenthood and the public health units in many cities, and the resulting aggressive promotion of the “morning-after pill” and condoms, Lees said voters must ask city council candidates “what they would do regarding sexual health and moral issues at the municipal level.”
Rosalind Karadimas, Victoria, B.C. chapter leader of the Canadian Family Action Coalition, told The Interim getting involved in local politics can pay big dividends for pro-family voters.
Local elections in B.C. last year yielded some important results. She points to the election of Alan Lowe, the Christian mayor of Victoria who has refused to give his stamp of approval to the homosexual lifestyle by participating in the “gay pride” parade, and the victory of pro-family school board trustees in Surrey, who stood up against the promotion of homosexuality in grade schools.
“The pro-family trustees stood up against the pro-homosexual agenda of the B.C. Teachers Federation and the government to ensure their children would not be subject to this radical indoctrination,” she said.
Wills said pro-life and pro-family voters must stop being complacent, and he equated non-involvement with surrender. “If you aren’t at the table,” he said, “you can’t do anything at all.”
He also points to a pragmatic argument for supporting local pro-life and pro-family candidates. “Many federal and provincial representatives get their start locally. We’re giving the other side a head start if we don’t challenge them in city council and school board elections.”
