Tag Archives: Country: Canada

The Raw Story: “Raising a child today costs millions of dollars,” he told AFP. “In this modern world, people enter into relationships and don’t necessarily want to have a child and so should not be burdened with the costs of raising a child.”

Global Post: A Conservative MP says anti-abortion activists need to support political candidates who share their views if they want abortion laws changed.

Globe and Mail: While the Christian faith continues to dominate Canada’s immigrant profile, its proportion has been steadily fading. Where more than 78 per cent of immigrants to Canada prior to 1971 identified themselves as Christians, that proportion has dropped to 47.5 per cent among those who arrived over the past five years, the survey found.

LifeSiteNews: An independent contractor was fired by RE/MAX on Thursday after the media took note of a real estate flyer he had distributed that included an excerpt of an article on the back about how children do best in a household with their married mother and father.

Religion Clause Blog: As previously reported, last year in the case of R v. N.S., the Canadian Supreme Court held that whether a Muslim woman could be required to remove her niqab (full face veil) while testifying in court in a preliminary hearing should be decided by balancing concerns about trial fairness with religious freedom rights of the witness.

CBC.ca: Some of the schools receiving federal infrastructure funds prohibit things like homosexual relationships, based on the educational institution’s moral code or religious teachings. A new analysis by Radio-Canada finds that out of the $2 billion allocated in the Harper government’s 2009 Economic Action Plan to support infrastructure improvements at universities and colleges, $20 million went to 13 Christian schools, including:

LifeSiteNews: Nearly two years after sportscaster Damian Goddard was fired by Rogers Communications, the Canadian Human Rights Commission has dismissed his complaint in which he alleged that he was fired because he had publicly voiced support for the traditional definition of marriage.

The Globe and Mail: Constitutional experts are questioning whether the Supreme Court of Canada still has the stomach to guarantee fundamental rights. Not only is the court hearing fewer Charter cases, they contend, it increasingly releases timid, confusing judgments that confound lawyers and restrict the potential of the Charter.

Religion News: Inmates in British Columbia have filed suit to overturn a decision by the Canadian government to cut part-time prison chaplains, alleging that the policy has nearly eliminated prison ministry to minority faiths.

LifeSiteNews: A parliamentary committee will announce its decision on the fate of Tory MP Mark Warawa’s gendercide motion on Thursday. The non-binding motion states: “That the House condemns discrimination against females occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination.”

LifeSiteNews: A professor from the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) has joined forces with the Quebec Federation of Planned Parenthood (FQPN) in an attack against the province’s pro-life pregnancy help centers.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s largest Evangelical network has slammed Manitoba’s proposed anti-bullying legislation (Bill 18), saying it would “violate the religious freedom of religious schools” by forcing them to promote sexual concepts contrary to the Bible.

LifeSiteNews: Scott Kent, the Education Minister for the Yukon, has forbidden publicly funded Catholic schools to educate students about the Catholic Church’s teachings on homosexuality.

LifeNews: Leading pro-life advocates in Canada are upset the Canadian Parliament will not allow members to vote on a motion to condemn the practice of sex-selection abortions.

ABC (AP): The legislation passed Wednesday by a vote of 149-137, with the crucial support of 16 Conservatives, including four cabinet ministers. Prime Minister Stephen Harper opposed the bill.

National Post: A group of British Columbia prisoners is suing the federal government over its decision to cancel contracts for part-time chaplains, saying Ottawa has nearly eliminated minority faith ministries in federal institutions. The lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court claims there were only two non-Christian chaplains in all of Canada as of the beginning of March, and none in B.C.

LifeSiteNews: A property owner in the small Niagara region town of Beamsville says he is facing pressure by the municipality to remove a sign showing an unborn child and a biblical verse that he agreed to display on his property.

On March 19, 2013, Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF) appeared before the BC Court of Appeal in the Carter appeal regarding assisted suicide.

LifeSiteNews: A controversial bill that would add “gender identity” and “gender expression” to Canada’s Human Rights Act and Criminal Code will face the vote in the House of Commons this Wednesday. Critics say that if passed, Bill C-279 will effectively abolish society’s understanding of male and female.

Jerusalem Post: Jewish brothers sue creator of posters accusing list of prominent Winnipeg Jews, including mayor, of being “cockroaches.”

LifeSiteNews: The Manitoba NDP government’s proposed anti-bullying law, Bill 18, which would force all schools in the province to accommodate homosexual student clubs, is “unconstitutional,” according to Honourable Vic Toews, Regional Minister for Manitoba and Member of Parliament for Provencher.

Nathan Cherry at Engage Family Minute: The Alliance Defending Freedom records a small victory for free speech in light of this case as it appears at least one statute was struck down in Canada’s Human Rights Code. But it is indeed a small victory as the overall tenor of this case is foreboding at best. The takeaway from this is that events like this are happening right now in America. There is a concerted effort to not just limit free speech and religious freedoms, but to elevate the “rights” of minority groups like homosexuals and transgender people above all others. This is the ultimate end of “anti-bullying” laws that equate changeable aspects of a person, such as sexual orientation, with permanent aspects such as race or nationality.

LifeSiteNews: A motion asking the Parliament of Canada to condemn the practice of sex-selective abortions is scheduled to be debated in the House of Commons on March 28, 2013.

Bruce J. Clemenger at Evangelical Fellowship of Canada: Recently a fertility clinic in the United States made news for not only selling human sperm and eggs, but human embryos as well. While many responded with disdain, National Post columnist Marni Soupcoff questioned the validity of the objections.

CBC.ca: A comic book shop franchise in Ottawa is taking a stand for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights by pulling the work of a writer who publicly opposes gay marriage off its shelves.

Canadian Constitution Foundation: Last week, in an unanimous decision in the case of Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) v. Whatcott, the Supreme Court of Canada struck a blow against freedom of speech.

Charles C.W. Cooke at National Review: If the Canadian Supreme Court is happy to indulge the prosecution of those whose speech apparently “opposes the targeted group’s ability to find self-fulfillment,” then I wonder if it wouldn’t also be happy to bring back Spectral Evidence, which William Stoughton allowed into his courtroom with such famous success at the Salem Witch Trials.

Montreal Gazette: I’m happy to see that Quebec has launched a campaign to raise awareness and fight homophobia and transphobia. The province will run TV and radio advertisements, and also has set up a site where people can take a short survey.

LifeSiteNews: Controversy is escalating over the Manitoba NDP government’s proposed anti-bullying law, which would force schools – including independent religious schools – to accommodate homosexual student clubs under the name gay-straight alliance (GSA).

LifeSiteNews: After this week’s Supreme Court ruling finding him guilty of “hate speech,” Canada’s most controversial Christian activist says he will continue publicly witnessing against homosexuality.

Christian News Net: The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that Biblical speech opposing homosexual behavior, including in written form, is essentially a hate crime.

Yahoo News: A debate about how religious schools should handle homosexual students is at the forefront again, as a Manitoba Christian academy fights back against new anti-bullying legislation that would force them to allow the creation of a gay-straight alliance.

Religion Clause Blog: In Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission v. Whatcott, (Sup. Ct. Canada, Feb. 27, 2013), the Supreme Court of Canada, in a 116-page opinion, upheld the constitutionality of a key provision in theSaskatchewan Human Rights Code, Sec. 14.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s top court has released an unanimous decision today that critics say has struck a monumental blow against freedom of speech, opinion, and religion across the country.

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada set a new standard in determining the legal boundaries for religious expression in public debate.

LifeSiteNews: “Pick up the phone right now and ask a Conservative MP to stand up for our women and girls by voting against the Gender/Bathroom Bill C-279,” an organization to promote Christian principles in Canadian society is urgently asking concerned citizens.

National Post: Canada’s controversial 20-year-old legal definition of hatred is set to be updated or even overturned on Wednesday, as the Supreme Court of Canada rules in the case of William Whatcott, a born-again anti-gay pamphleteer who ran afoul of Saskatchewan’s Human Rights Code.

LifeSiteNews: A group of Quebec physicians have formed an alliance to convey their outrage over the pending legalization of euthanasia by the government.

The Star Phoenix: A Saskatoon man, who filed a complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights (SHR) Commission over a Christian prayer by a city councillor at a City-sponsored dinner last April, says he’s been told his complaint will proceed.

Religion Clause Blog reports.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s Conservative government is defending its grant to a Christian organization working to improve water access in Uganda after a media report on Sunday called for its defunding because of its Christian beliefs on sexuality.

LifeSiteNews: Canada’s Official Opposition leader is under fire Tuesday after saying traditional Christian beliefs on sexuality go “completely against” Canadian values, and even Canadian law.

Washington Post: A Canadian Medical Association survey found that 16% of 2125 doctors who completed a survey would be willing to euthanize a patient, if legal, while 44% said that they would refuse requests for euthanasia. 26% of the doctors were unsure how they would respond to requests for euthanasia and 15% of the physicians did not respond.

LifeSiteNews: A private Catholic high school in Montreal has decided to appeal to Canada’s highest court in its fight for academic and religious freedom.

LifeNews: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper opposes a call by three MPs to look into figures from a story LifeNews broke showing 491 babies have been born alive and subsequently left to die following failed abortions.

LifeSiteNews: Ontario’s new Premier Kathleen Wynne promised to bring back a controversial sex-ed program at her first news conference after winning the leadership of Ontario’s Liberals party.

LifeSiteNews: A Supreme Court of Canada decision that upheld Quebec’s laws which provide rights to married couples that do not apply to couples merely living together has been applauded by pro-family organizations as a recognition of the unique and distinctive role that true marriage plays in society.

LifeSiteNews: John Carpay, president of the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), whose organization is a co-sponsor of the Free Speech Wall, praised the Students for Liberty initiative to encourage free speech at Carlton. However, he also pointed out the inconsistency in the school administration’s handling of the vandalism committed on campus by Arun Smith in comparison to their decision to arrest pro-life students for trespassing when they attempted to set up a display of the Genocide Awareness Project.

CBC.ca: Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird is signalling that his long-promised, much-anticipated office of religious freedom is set to be unveiled in the coming weeks.

LifeSiteNews: The political arm of Canada’s pro-life movement is urging the federal Justice Minister to use “whatever legal or punitive measures are necessary” to prevent Quebec from “legalizing euthanasia” and thereby violating the country’s Criminal Code.

Religion Clause Blog: In Canada last June, Trinity Western University, a Christian liberal arts university in British Columbia,proposed to start a new law school. This week, the Vancouver Sun and the National Post report that deans of other Canadian law schools are opposing the proposal . . .

Short, Donn, Queering Schools, GSAs and the Law: Taking on God (November 6, 2012). Donn Short, ‘Queering Schools and GSAs: Taking On God’ in Gerald Walton, ed, The Gay Agenda: Claiming Space, Identity & Justice (New York: Peter Lang, 2013). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2198683

LifeSiteNews: A prominent Toronto psychiatrist has severely criticized the assumptions underlying what has been dubbed by critics as the Canadian federal government’s “bathroom bill,” that is, Bill C-279, a private member’s bill that would afford special protection to so-called “transgender” men and women.

Catholic Culture: In “Queering Schools, GSAs and the Law: Taking on God”–an excerpt from the book The Gay Agenda: Claiming Space, Identity & Justice–a law professor at the University of Manitoba calls for changes in “state-issued law and policy approaches” to ensure that Canadian schools, including Catholic schools, become “queered.”

LifeSiteNews: A Montreal prosecutor told a Quebec court recently that holding a religious ceremony in a building not zoned as a place of worship, even if it is a private home, is illegal.

LifeSiteNews: A new study of Canadian women finds that pregnant women who are married suffer less partner abuse, substance abuse, and post-partum depression than women who are cohabitating or single. Dr. Marcelo Urquia, an epidemiologist at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto . . .

The Globe and Mail: An Islamic witness may be required to remove her niqab veil to testify in court depending on the seriousness of the case and the intensity of her religious beliefs, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Thursday. | R. v. N.S., 2012 SCC 72

Vancouver Sun: Whatever the causes, the loss of church men and boys has caused a dramatic rise in the proportion of female members – and female clergy – in Canada’s liberal-to-moderate denominations. And it’s causing mixed feelings.

Peter Baklinski at LifeSiteNews: The government of Quebec is forcing Catholic schools to replace the Christian religion with the state’s “neutral” alternative based on moral relativism.

The Star Phoenix: Ashu Solo continues to stack up complaints against City Hall — this time targeting Merry Christmas signs on buses. Earlier this year, he filed a human rights complaint over a Christian prayer by a city councillor at a City of Saskatoon volunteer appreciation dinner. The Saskatchewan human rights commission hasn’t ruled yet on the complaint.

Religion Clause Blog: LifeSite News reports that in Canada, Quebec’s Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of the province’s Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports refusing to exempt a Catholic school, Loyola High School, from the requirement that it offer a government-mandated course in Ethics and Religious Culture instead of  the school’s own course covering other religions and ethical creeds from a Catholic perspective.

Examiner.com (includes video): Accusations are flying in Parliamentary debates concerning whether passing a law to stop sex selection is really just window dressing to re-open the abortion debate, an article in the Huffington Post indicated, Thursday.

SooToday.com: Mark Warawa’s private member’s motion would ask the House of Commons to condemn the practice of sex selection before birth.

LifeSiteNews: A girl who identifies herself as a boy has been given permission to use the boy’s bathroom at her Ontario public high school.

Religion Clause Blog: Jerusalem Post reported yesterday that a Tel Aviv Family Court has broken new legal ground by granting a divorce to a same-sex couple who had married in Canada but lived in Israel.

LifeSiteNews: Vandals in Toronto attacked and damaged the nativity scene placed in front of Toronto’s Old City Hall courthouse by Gethsemane Ministries, a Catholic lay movement.

LifeSiteNews: Canadian Blood Services (CBS) has revealed that it is about to exchange the lifetime ban on homosexuals donating blood for a deferral system. According to a plan submitted to Health Canada, men who have not had sex with other men for somewhere between five to ten years would be eligible to donate.

LifeSiteNews: The Calgary Catholic School District has reversed course on the HPV vaccine, agreeing to offer the controversial drug in their schools despite the opposition of Calgary Bishop Fred Henry.

LifeNews: In the past year there have been three reports and two court cases concerning the legalization of euthanasia and/or assisted suicide in Canada and the UK. All three reports concluded that euthanasia and/or assisted suicide can be safely legalized and one of the court cases came to the same conclusion.

LifeSiteNews: So parents like those in Nova Scotia are right to decry any unnecessary incursions into their proper area of authority. We need to ask: If parents are responsible to the government for what they teach their children, then what’s to stop the government from telling parents what to teach them?

LifeSiteNews: In a letter to the KSA Director of Student Services, John Carpay of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, who is representing Protectores Vitae, wrote, “We sincerely hope that it will not be necessary for Mr. Capko and other students to sue the KSA in order to secure their right to freely associate on the Kwantlen campus, free from discrimination by the student association that they are required by law to join.”

LifeNews: Figures from Statistics Canada, a federal government agency, show 491 babies were born alive following botched abortions during the period from 2000-2009 and left to die afterwards. The numbers have pro-life advocates up in arms. Andre Schutten, legal counsel for ARPA Canada, noticed the numbers and blogged about them recently.

LifeSiteNews: A pro-family organization in Alberta is warning parents that an upcoming meeting of the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA) will push for government mandated full time kindergarten, and will look at policies intended to combat so-called “homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism” in schools.

Baptist Press: In what appears to be a final victory for the pastor, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, Alberta’s highest court affirmed in October Boissoin’s right to publicly express his religious views. “Public expression should not be censored simply because the views expressed are unpopular,” read an ADF blog post Nov. 2. “… This legal victory has great significance for religious expression. As American courts look more frequently to international jurisprudence for guidance, this victory for freedom of expression has important implications for preserving and promoting religious freedom in America.”

LifeSiteNews: Parents and ratepayers in a Hamilton area school board will never know exactly what a homosexual activist told their children during a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) assembly a year ago. The Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of Ontario upheld last week the decision of the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) to “deny access to the record” of the speech.