Luke Jalsevac
Special to The Interim

Following the National March for Life each year, Campaign Life Coalition hosts a special all-day conference specifically for youth. This year’s unprecedented turnout of 500 young people stunned organizers, who were expecting numbers similar to last year’s 300 attendees.

The featured speakers, who included lawyer Alex Vernon, LifeSiteNews editor John-Henry Westen, McMaster LifeLine president Johanna Miller, C-FAM director of inter-governmental relations Samantha Singson, Campaign Life Coalition president Jim Hughes and newly elected Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux, all spoke passionately about the vital, prominent and necessary role of youth in defending life at all its stages.

Westen’s dynamic presenting style had the youth riveted as he outlined, using various examples, why we must always approach the media with a critical, discerning mind. The most poignant example he used was that of the previous day’s March for Life, which all the youth had marched in. Most media did not even report on the march, and some of those few that did severely underestimated the number of participants and used photos that did not give a true picture of the turnout.

Westen then challenged the students to write or call their local newspapers and media outlets when they got home, demanding to know why the march had been ignored. “As youth,” he said, “you have a voice which people listen to. You were there, you know the truth and you can make the truth known.”

Hughes began his presentation by reminding the youth that without prayer, they will not be able to sustain their efforts. He then adamantly told them that “you are not the future, you are the present. You have a role to play now!”

Conservative MP Pierre Lemieux, the proud father of five children, echoed this sentiment in his motivating address, in which he said that there were many youth who helped out in his campaign and that he would not have been elected if it had not been for them. The reason, he told the youth, is that, “People are so impressed when they see young people politically involved.”

Suresh Dominic from Gethsemane Ministries, who brought over 30 youth to the conference, said that many in his group were excited to hear the truth from an MP, to learn about the issues and how to get involved. Most important, they were excited to learn that they can make a difference, regardless of age. “The entire conference was very, very educational,” said Dominic. “The information they received they simply don’t get anywhere else. It was superb.”

This year, for the first time, the Youth Conference also included a session designed specifically for university and college students. Over 50 young pro-life leaders from 11 universities met in the morning, before rejoining the rest of the youth for the afternoon portion. Paul Gianoli, executive director of the National Campus Life Network, led the forum. He spoke of the importance of pro-life activism on university campuses, where many abandon their pro-life positions and where young women are often faced with the decision to have an abortion.

With university pro-life activism exploding across the country – six new clubs have been established this year, in addition to the re-energization of many others – this forum was seen as essential for students to strengthen their pro-life network.

McMaster’s Johanna Miller said afterwards that, “I was flabbergasted by the number of students. I was so impressed, because I never did anything so counter-cultural in high school.” She also praised the speakers for not talking down to the students, but giving them the chance to take what they needed from the talks. “Students are so often under-estimated, but now is our time.”

Each speaker expressed gratitude to the youth for coming out in such numbers and the great hope they feel for the pro-life movement in Canada. Hope was a sentiment echoed by almost every person in the room over 30 who was interviewed.