Earlier this week, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada released its Election Kit. In it they offer information to churches about what they can and cannot do during an election — there is a lot they can legally do which fulfills their Christian obligation to inform their flocks about the responsibility of casting an informed and conscientious ballot. In short, churches must not be partisan. Essentially churches and pastors can show congregants the dots, they just cannot connect the dots for them. The kit also provides information and questions on a number of issues including 1) abortion, 2) euthanasia, 3) prostitution, 4) the family, 5) religious freedom and 6) reproductive technologies. Anyone interested in moral issues should read this resource.
Ottawa Citizen columnist Elizabth Payne says the fact that Canadians are still debating daycare in 2011 is a good sign that the political will to do somethingabout creating a place to store children during the day while parents work still exists. She correctly says that we no longer live in a world where one parent staying home is the norm. She also correctly notes that the choice between working and raising kids is a false one. But Payne never considers that a policy that acknowledges the myriad of ways in which families arrange to take care of the kids during the day — mom/dad at home, daycare, home care, with relatives — requires a solution that puts money into the pockets of parents, not an institution (such as daycare).
David Quist, executive director at the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, wrote in the Ottawa Citizen that tax policy can be used to help families, and offers a number of suggestions. IMFC research says one of the greatest challenges facing families today is making ends meet. He also says it is time to stop penalizing families where one spouse does not work in paid employment.
Bishop Pierre Morissette has written Elections Canada to express concern about faithful Catholics being forced to choose between their employment and volunteer responsibilities in the election and observing their holy weekend obligations.