Law Matters John Carpay Last month, the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) became an intervener in UAlberta Pro-Life v. University of Alberta.This court case arose in 2015, when a small group of students received approval from the University of Alberta to set up a stationary display on campus. The display juxtaposed photos of the developing unborn child with photos of abortions performed [...]
Father Tony Van Hee Police slapped an 83-year-old Roman Catholic priest with a summons to appear in court Oct. 24 for allegedly intimidating or attempting to intimidate abortion clients at The Morgentaler Clinic in downtown Ottawa. Fr. Tony Van Hee is facing the charge under Ontario’s new “bubble zone” law, the Safe Access to Abortion Services Act (Bill 163). Under [...]
It’s easy to believe that society is falling apart, especially if you spend any time on social media. My liberal friends are certain that the earth is on the verge of an imminent ecological disaster – probably climate change, but they’ll take resource depletion or overpopulation in a pinch. My conservative friends fill their Facebook feeds with stories and memes about the [...]
For the past 30 years, Canadians have been increasingly inundated with the most disgusting exhibitions of pornography on television, in the movies, and on-line. How can that be? Throughout this period, the Criminal Code of Canada has clearly stated that everyone commits an offence punishable by up to two years imprisonment who (a) makes, prints, publishes or circulates any “obscene” thing whatever [...]
Canada’s national pro-life, pro-family lobbying group launched a petition in August asking Ontario Premier Doug Ford to drop Bill 163, which came into effect February. The bill prohibits all pro-life witness, including showing “disapproval” of abortion, within 50 meters of Ontario’s eight abortion centers. It also allows hospitals and pharmacies to apply for zones of up to 150 meters in which all [...]
British Columbians will vote by mail in a referendum on what voting system the province should use for its elections. The referendum is being held by mail from Oct. 22 to Nov. 30. All B.C. residents over the age of 18 can vote in the referendum. This is the third time provincial voters will have their say on electoral reform, having [...]
A scourge for individuals and society In February, the New York Times Magazine ran a long cover story, “What Teenagers Are Learning From Online Porn.” Based on interviews with boys selected to take part in the porn literacy class in a peer-leadership program for Boston teenagers, the article relates in depressing detail the habits of teenage users of pornography and how what they view [...]
National Affairs Rory Leishman In a significant seven-to-two ruling in Masterpiece Cake Shop Ltd. v. Colorado on June 4, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a ruling by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission that a Christian baker had no right in law to refuse on grounds of sincere religious conviction to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. That [...]
Law Matters John Carpay You know a court ruling is bad when judges deliberately ignore the evidence placed before them. But reality was brushed aside in the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision to repudiate, nullify, and revoke the fundamental Charterfreedoms of Trinity Western University (TWU), its staff, and its students. According to the justices, Charter-protected freedom of religion was narrowed [...]
Law Matters John Carpay On March 19, the University of Alberta held a public event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Vriend v. Alberta. In 1998, the court ordered Alberta to add “sexual orientation” to its human rights legislation. When pondering the Vriend ruling, it is important to remember that, during the 1990s, activists across Canada were [...]
National Affairs Rory Leishman On Jan. 31, the Ontario Divisional Court held in The Christian Medical and Dental Society of Canada v. College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, that pro-life physicians have no constitutional right to refuse to collaborate in killing or assisting in the death of a suicidal patient upon request. Who bears primary responsibility for this appalling [...]
On Feb. 1, the first day that the Safe Access to Abortion law came into effect in Ontario, 40 pro-life supporters in Ottawa called for the bubble zone law to be repealed. Demonstrating outside the 50-meter bubble zone surrounding the Morgentaler abortuary on Bank Street in the nation’s capital, the pro-life advocates carried signs calling attention to the restricted free speech zone: [...]
Cyril Winters being arrested on Feb. 7 for allegedly breaking the Safe Access for Abortion Services Act. A longtime pro-life advocate has become the first person arrested under Ontario’s new bubble zone law that outlaws pro-life speech outside abortion centres. Cyril Winter, 70, was first arrested Feb. 7 and then again two days later in front of the Morgentaler abortion [...]
Ottawa Won't fund students summer jobs unless employers support abortion The Liberal government of Justin Trudeau will ban any employer from receiving summer job grants for students if the employer doesn’t first sign an “attestation” that they agree with abortion and transgender “rights.” The new criteria were sent to all MPs and was made public when the Canada Summer Jobs Program opens [...]
Silent No More, midwives, and a city councilor among presenters On Oct. 19, 17 stakeholders and other interested parties made presentations to the standing committee on general government to speak for or against Bill 163, the Protecting a Woman’s Right to Access Abortion Services Act, 2017, which was introduced by the provincial Attorney General two weeks earlier and was being fast-tracked to [...]