In a headline story on Nov. 8, the New York Times reported that, by voting to ban federal funding for abortion from the major health-care reform bill under consideration in the United States Congress, the House of Representatives “has energized the opponents of abortion with their biggest victory in years.” Quite so. The $1.1 trillion House health-care reform bill proposes [...]
On Nov. 2, a column by Steven Fletcher appeared in the National Post about C-384, a private member’s bill that would legalize euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide. Fletcher’s opinion could be influential; not only is he a Conservative MP and cabinet minister, he is a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair since a 1996 automobile accident, He said more should be done to improve the lives [...]
By a vote of 239-46, the House of Commons passed C-268, a private members bill which would provide a minimum five year sentence for traffickers of children. Every Bloc Quebecois MP and three NDP MPs voted against the stricter penalties for child traffickers. The three NDP MPs were: Libby Davies (Vancouver East), Bill Siksay (Burnaby Douglas) and Megan Leslie (Halifax). Davies and Siksay [...]
On Oct. 2, Bill C-384, Francine Lalonde’s private member’s bill to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, received its first hour of debate. The bill was introduced on May 13 by the Bloc Québécois MP, in her third attempt to get such legislation passed in Parliament. Two previous attempts were scuttled when an election was called. The Euthanasia Prevention Coalition has led the [...]
Over a two-week span in August, a pair of Kennedy siblings passed away. On Aug. 25, Senator Edward (Teddy) Kennedy died at the age of 87. Since the 1960s, he had been lionized by an adoring media in part because he was a Kennedy, but also because he advanced an unabashedly liberal agenda. Upon his death, he was given a full public [...]
Canada The Ontario Progressive Conservative Party wooed Toronto Sun city hall columnist and married lesbian Sue-Ann Levy to run in a by-election in the downtown Toronto riding of St. Paul. She lost to Liberal candidate Dr. Eric Hoskins, 48 per cent to 29 per cent … Ontario MPP Gerry Martiniuk (PC, Cambridge) introduced a private member’s bill that would require all schools [...]
One of Canada’s most committed pro-life politicians, Stanley Haidasz, passed away August 6 at the age of 86. Haidasz, a Liberal, served in Parliament for nearly a half-century. First elected in 1957, he lost his re-election bid the following year, but regained his Parkdale seat in Toronto in 1962 and was then re-elected five times. In 1978, he was appointed [...]
If you’re going to be a crook, Canada’s the place to be. Not Zambia, where the government isn’t printing any more of its worthless money. Or Somalia, where they haven’t had a central government in 10 years. Or Saudi Arabia, where thieves get their hands cut off and adulterers get stoned. Or Iraq, where your coloured voting finger gets cut off by [...]
The New Brunswick government has revealed it will not pursue a further appeal to the Supreme Court to prevent abortionist Henry Morgentaler from suing the province to pay for abortions at his Fredericton abortion mill. In May, the New Brunswick Court of Appeal dismissed the province’s appeal of a Court of Queen’s Bench ruling that gave Morgentaler status to pursue a lawsuit [...]
Charles Gonthier, a former justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, passed away recently at the age of 80. Appointed by Brian Mulroney in 1989, he developed a reputation as a conservative during his 14 years on the country’s top court. The Canadian Press reported in its obituary that Gonthier offered “a more conservative interpretation of the individual rights guaranteed [...]
Indian capital legalizes gay sex NEW DELHI – Justice S. Muralidhar of New Delhi’s High Court decriminalized consensual gay sex between adults in a controversial decision on July 2. The law only applies within city limits, but sets a legal precedent that may be invoked by courts across India. While India’s gays celebrated the victory, spiritual leaders in the religiously diverse country [...]
Montreal, Vancouver pride events denied Marquee cash OTTAWA – The Canadian Press reported that the Marquee Tourism Event Program, which doled out $400,000 to the Toronto Pride parade in June, refused in July to fund similar gay pride events in Montreal and Vancouver. Divers-Cite, the organizing committee in Montreal, had asked for $155,000 to promote their gay pride events and add performers, but [...]
Pro-life MPP Frank Klees finishes strong second The early frontrunner for the Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership ended up winning, but the pro-life evangelical who finished second surprised many both in and out of the party. On the eve of the June 27 announcement at the leadership convention in Markham, one news broadcast said that the convention would crown either MPP [...]
Judge Sonia Sotomayor, President Barack Obama’s appointee to the Supreme Court, refused to make her opinion on abortion explicitly known during four days of Senate confirmation hearings, despite several attempts by senators on both sides of the issue to sound her out. She dodged various questions by Senators Tom Coburn (R, Okla) and Arlen Spector (D, Penn.), stating only that she considered [...]
Canada Former Ontario attorney-general and chief justice Roy McMurtry has been made an officer of the Order of Canada, the second highest rank in the order. In 2003, under McMurtry’s leadership, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled the traditional definition of marriage violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom’s guarantee of equality under the law, thereby establishing same-sex “marriage” … In [...]