A corporate scandal worse than Enron

See Also: The big money behind the abortion indu$try
Philanthropic foundations: The fiscal foundation of the abortion, contraception, promiscuity empire

Thinking of buying a pair of Levi's jeans? Or cracking open a cold bottle of Labatt's Blue? You might want to give it a second thought.

Levi Strauss and Co. and Labatt's are among a number of Canadian and U.S. corporations getting a jaundiced eye from pro-life, pro-family advocates these days. That's because they've exhibited support in one form or another for pro-abortion or anti-family causes in recent years. For that reason, consumers might want to pass them over when making purchasing decisions.

Levi's raised the ire of pro-family advocates when it was fingered not only as one of the companies that monetarily props up the rabidly pro-abortion Planned Parenthood organization, but also as one that withdrew funding for the Boy Scouts of America because of the Scouts' refusal to accept homosexual leaders in their ranks. It was also reported that Levi's was part of a proposal to erect a condom-covered Christmas tree in Central Park, New York as part of World AIDS Day.

Labatt's, along with The Bay, was one of the "platinum sponsors" of this year's gay pride depravities in Toronto. Other major sponsors of that event included Showcase television, Schick, Captain Morgan Rum, Crest, United Airlines, the Toronto Marriott Hotel at the Eaton Centre, United Airlines, Hewlett-Packard, Starbucks, Kodak, CITY-TV and the Toronto Star.

The Royal Bank got a Bronx cheer earlier this year when it refused to open a bank account for the No Committee 2006, a group opposing the scheduling of the Gay Games in Montreal in 2006. The bank alleged that the committee contravened the Charter of Rights and the federal Human Rights Act by opposing homosexuality and the games. It also brought in homosexual Ontario MPP George Smitherman to address one of its shareholder meetings.

Gwen Landolt, a lawyer with REAL Women of Canada, said later that with the action, the Royal Bank "has truly now become officially the bank for homosexuals in Canada." Pro-family advocates were encouraged to switch their accounts to another bank and forward a letter of explanation to the Royal Bank's president and chief operating officer.

To its credit, however, RBC Royal Bank was one of the sponsors of this summer's World Youth Day in Toronto.

A number of teen magazines have raised the ire of Doug Scott of Life Decisions International. Scott blasted publications including 'Teen, Seventeen, YM, Teen People and Teenstyle for serving as "Planned Parenthood clones."

"Many publishers of teenage-style magazines have served as a method for spreading Planned Parenthood's deadly message," Scott said. "Some have even included the organization's name and phone number."

Scott has also urged that people avoid using the American Express card for their purchasing transactions. "American Express has been a boycott target for more than a decade due to its financial support of Planned Parenthood." He was supported by Steven Ertelt, president of Women and Children First: "WCF encourages all pro-life people to write to American Express and encourage them to stop funding Planned Parenthood."

The Disney Corporation has made headlines in recent years for straying from the family-oriented values of its founder into areas that involve the ridiculing and maligning of Christianity, the promotion of homosexuality and the inclusion of pornographic material in its movies and television programs.

Disney produced the children's film The Rescuers, which was said to have subliminal pornography. Other Disney films including The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Roger Rabbit, Aladdin, The Santa Clause and Fantasia were also reported to have objectionable sexual content.

Meanwhile, Disney's subsidiary Miramax has produced dozens of morally objectionable films, including Chasing Amy, Priest and Dogma - the latter of which had God portrayed by Alanis Morissette, featured a descendant of Mary and Joseph working at an abortuary and compared the Mass to lousy sex.

An unrepentant chairman Michael Eisner said in 1998, "I will always defend the right of 'talented artists' who work for us to push the limits of their imagination." That kind of attitude resulted in boycott efforts by leading Christian and family organizations that resulted in sharp drops in the value of Disney stock, declining attendance at its theme parks and lower viewership figures for ABC television, one of its subsidiaries.

IBM Canada Ltd. was reported by the Globe and Mail newspaper to have a gay, lesbian, bisexual and "transgendered" group, and to have entered a contingent in Toronto's gay pride festivities.

IBM - which also has a gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgendered "task force" - should be a place where people feel comfortable being openly gay, according to the corporation's vice-president of workforce diversity. Anyone who has a problem with that need not apply to IBM, he added.

MTV, the U.S. music video channel that needs no introduction, predictably came under fire from both Life Decisions International and Rock for Life for being "the trash that it is." According to Rock for Life director Bryan Kemper, "For years, MTV has been holding nothing back as it corrupts the youth of our nation ... MTV has partnered with Planned Parenthood in promoting a toll-free number for underage children to receive an unmarked package in the mail containing condoms."

MTV's parent organization is Viacom International, which also owns - take a breath - VH-1, Country Music Television, Blockbuster, Showtime, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Black Entertainment Television, the Nashville Network, Paramount Studios, United International Pictures, Columbia Broadcasting System, King World Productions, United Paramount Network, Infinity Radio, the Sundance channel and various amusement parks and movie theatres.

In the realm of corporations supporting objectionable research on embryos for stem cell purposes, Andrew Grove, chairman of the board at Intel Corporation, was criticized for pledging $5 million to help launch an embryonic stem cell program at the University of California.

Closer to home, Halton Pro-Life recently urged Canadians to write to the Canadian Cancer Society, the Parkinson Society of Canada, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation in protest of their support of embryonic stem cell research.

In examining corporate behaviour, it would be remiss not to extend kudos to those that support worthy causes, such as the momentous World Youth Day event in Toronto this past summer. So a tip of the hat goes to some of that event's sponsors: the Delta Chelsea Hotel; Hydro One; Bombardier; Jolera Infasys; Scotiabank; St. Joseph Corporation, Inner Peace TV; the Ontario Trillium Foundation; St. John Ambulance; Exposoft Solutions Inc.; President's Choice; Cherry Beach Sound; Plain and Simple Clothing Company; Mapart; Heath Lambert Group; Olera; ATPH; Office Central; IPC Personal Computers; LBE; Weston.ca; Exposoft Solutions Inc.; Gino's Fashion; the Helicopter Company; Maraca; Minolta Canada; Oregon Catholic Press; New Dimensions Travel and Tours Ltd.; North Point Microservices; Breyers All Natural Ice Cream; Holidair Insurance Services; Skylink Express; Al Pallidini's Pine Tree Ford Lincoln and Mailloux Baillargeon.