At the age of 25, Andrew Scheer ran for office under the banner of the new Conservative Party of Canada in the NDP stronghold of Regina-Qu’Appelle, defeating former NDP leadership candidate Lorne Nystrom by just under 900 votes. Although he was confident he would win, he told The Interim in a recent interview, “There was an element of ‘wow.’” Scheer, [...]
In the wake of the launching of the first-ever Campaign Life Coalition student-run fashion show benefit, it seems that mainstream media and grassroots pro-life, pro-family groups may be on the same page. And, with back-to-school shopping season upon us, the timing couldn’t be better. In August, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, an award-winning American radio talk show host whose weekly program boasts over 8.5 [...]
Once again the assembled chiefs of police in Canada have called for an increased number of officers to deal with what they describe as a “spiralling increase” in the amount of child pornography on the internet. They explained to a press conference that a quarter of a million separate internet addresses in Canada are actively downloading the most horrendous scenes [...]
It’s an annual event now, like some sort of grotesque birthday – the attempt to make the spanking of one’s child a criminal offence. The zealots have failed so far, but be warned that each time, they come a little closer. For most of us, the normal ones, the issue is largely irrelevant. Spanking is sometimes helpful, and frequently a [...]
Over the last few months, numerous groups and media outlets have noticed that the world’s population is aging –alarmingly so in the developed world – yet few identified the solution to the problem. From the business pages of the daily papers to financial advisers, from the International Monetary Fund to the C.D. Howe Institute, alarm bells have been ringing about the rapidly [...]
But nostalgia for kid’s shows doesn’t stand scrutiny During the four years I wrote a daily TV column, I could always rely on at least one study a year, often more, decrying the debilitating effect that television had on the young mind. Among the most recent is a University of Washington report that blamed TV viewing for preventing babies from learning language, [...]
The last time I saw my dad alive was as he walked, arm in arm, with my mum through the departure gates of Toronto airport. It was symbolic. He turned around to wave goodbye. In a few weeks, he would be dead. I found out after his death that he had been suffering from agonizing bone cancer that had taken [...]
On June 3, the Institute for Marriage and Family Canada released Private Choices, Public Costs, a report on the cost family breakdown to taxpayers. Interim editor Paul Tuns spoke with Rebecca Walberg and Andrea Mrozek, co-authors of the report. The Interim: Why did you choose to look into the public costs of individual, private choices such as marriage, living single and divorce? [...]
On June 3, the Institute of Marriage and Family Canada released a report entitled, “Private Choices, Public Costs: How Failing Families Cost us All,” detailing the cost of family breakdown in Canada by examining the relationship between poverty and family structure. Co-authors Rebecca Walberg and Andrea Mrozek say that the cost of poverty alleviation for broken families is “a bare minimum” of [...]
As Easter weekend rolled around, and with it the end of my agonizing Lenten sacrifice of caffeinated drinks, I couldn’t help but remember childhood Easters and the ritual rolling out of 50s- and 60s-era biblical epics on the big three U.S. networks. The big event was always Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 remake of his own 1923 silent-era Mosaic blockbuster, The Ten Commandments, [...]
Part two of a piece offering advice to those suffering in the aftermath of a miscarriage.
A Quebec couple has launched a $3.5-million lawsuit against Montreal Children's Hospital for allegedly putting their infant daughter back on artificial food and hydration without their approval. Marie-Eve Laurendeau gave birth to Phebe Mantha at LaSalle Hospital in November 2007. After a difficult delivery, Phebe was transferred to Montreal Children's Hospital in serious condition and put on life support. According to the [...]
March 4, 1986 was another red-letter day for Canada. Bowing to feminist and homosexual pressure, John Crosbie, the Federal Minister of Justice, accepted the key recommendation of the House of Commons Committee on Equality Rights that “sexual orientation” should be regarded “a prohibited ground of discrimination.” Other recommendations included opening the ranks of the Armed Forces, the RCMP and all other federal [...]
The Institute of Marriage and Family Canada is critical of recent budgetary moves on the part of the Federal government, as they missed the opportunity to help families, as well as stimulate the Canadian economy.
Part one of a story of personal and familial loss, addressing an often unseen pain.