Why is electoral reform suddenly an issue? During the 2015 federal election campaign, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau vowed it would be the last election under the first-past-the-post (FPP) system, the system that Canada has used since Confederation. Critics say that the winner-take-all nature of FPP is unfair and even undemocratic. The candidate with the most votes in the riding is elected MP [...]
Donald Trump once supported abortion, now claims to be pro-life. A record number of major candidates entered the race to seek the Republican presidential nomination, many of whom hold pro-life views. The winner, who will face a gauntlet of caucus and primary elections from February through June and be named the party’s standard-bearer at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, [...]
Review Paul Tuns I have reviewed a good number of political memoirs over the years, and my observation is always the same: they are unsatisfying in what is left unsaid or merely hinted at. Dalton McGuinty’s Making a Difference (Dunburn, 240 pages, $35) is no different. It is no easy task writing a memoir of a 25-year political career, from [...]
The Liberal government has asked the Supreme Court of Canada for an extension beyond the Feb. 6 deadline to come up with a new federal law on euthanasia and assisted-suicide.When the Court threw out the Criminal Code prohibitions on aiding and abetting a suicide, it stayed the decision for one year so the government could create a new law regulating assisted-suicide. With [...]
10. Caitlin Jenner comes out. In June, former Olympian Bruce Jenner was featured on the cover of Vanity Fair with a new name, image, and self-identified gender as Caitlyn Jenner. It was part of what many pro-family activists see as a campaign to mainstream transgender in the culture. 9. Prince Edward Island increases abortion access. Premier [...]
Rona Ambrose On Nov. 5, the Conservative caucus elected Rona Ambrose interim leader of the party in a vote that saw eight candidates vie to lead the Tories on a temporary basis. The proceedings, like all caucus business, occurred behind closed doors. Ambrose defeated pro-life MPs Candace Bergen and Mike Lake, pro-abortion MPs Erin O’Toole and Michelle Rempel, and three [...]
Following the Supreme Court’s Carter decision throwing out Canada’s prohibition on assisted-suicide, the Conservative government established an External Panel on Options for a Legislative Response to Carter v. Canada. Just ten days after being sworn in, the Liberal government ordered a new mandate for the panel, one day before it was scheduled to report. On Nov. 14, Health Minister Jane Philpott and [...]
Justin Trudeau On Nov. 13, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did something no head of Canada’s federal government has ever done: release the mandate letters given to every minister outlining expectations and government priorities for his portfolio. The move provides an insight into the government’s agenda and it was applauded by many in the media as a victory for accountable and [...]
Health Minister Jane Philpott Replying to an inquiry from the CBC, federal Health Minister Jane Philpott said the government will “equalize” abortion “access” across Canada, which abortion advocates claim is not universally easy throughout the country. In a written response to the state broadcaster, Philpott said: “We know that abortion services remain patchy in parts of the country, and that [...]
The Conservative Party was reduced from majority government to sizable opposition, falling to 99 seats. Campaign Life Coalition rates 41 of the victorious Conservative MPs pro-life and admits that others were supportable according to their red, yellow, and green-light system. Because the Liberals and NDP have either formal or leader-imposed policies prohibiting pro-life candidates, CLC had no green-lit candidates in those parties. [...]
On Oct. 19, Canadians chose to elect 184 Liberal MPs, 99 Conservative MPs, 44 NDP MPs, 10 Bloc Quebecois MPs, and a lone Green Party representative. The new Liberal government is led by arguably the most pro-abortion politician this country has ever seen, Justin Trudeau, the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, who brought legal abortion to Canada in 1969. By [...]
Liberals win huge majority. Opportunities for pro-lifers. Life and family issues in the next Parliament Justin Trudeau's 184 seat majority will not have one pro-life MP in his caucus. On Oct. 19, the solidly pro-abortion Liberal Party won a majority, taking 184 seats in the enlarged 338-seat House of Commons. The Conservatives were reduced to 99 seats and the NDP [...]
But there is hope that new batch will be better While pro-life leaders are delighted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s elevation of Justice Russell Brown from the Alberta Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, trendy proponents of judicial activism are appalled, and understandably so: Brown subscribes to the traditional judicial doctrine that judges should refrain from legislating from the [...]
This election season has seen the release of numerous political books, but three stand out as important. Ostensibly books about Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper and by the current NDP and former Liberal leaders, might not provide similar insights, but indirectly they do. There have been numerous anti-Harper books released in the past year or so, evidence of what some call Anti-Harper [...]
CLC’s Hughes said pro-life could be electoral asset Hon. Jason Kenney, Minister of Defence Conservative Jason Kenney criticized the Liberal and NDP parties at a Sept. 21, campaign stop for their “extreme positions” on life issues. The Minister of Defence said that of the three major parties, the Conservatives “are the only party that allows MPs to vote with their [...]