Politics
Written on 28 Apr, 2010 at 6:35 in
Human rights, Politics | Author:
Pauline Kosalka
Jason Kenney, the federal Citizenship and Immigration Minister, has come under fire for not including any mention of gay “rights” in the new Canadian citizenship study guide. The guide, Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship, will replace the 1995 version created by Jean Chretien’s Liberal government. The current edition includes more information on Canada’s military history, aboriginals, gender equality and minorities. Applicants for Canadian citizenship will be tested from March ... (Continue reading)
Written on 28 Apr, 2010 at 6:33 in
Euthanasia, Politics | Author:
Pauline Kosalka Bipartisan opposition to private member’s bill legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide
On March 16, the House of Commons debated Bill C-384, MP Francine Lalonde`s (La Pointe-de-l’Île, BQ) private member’s bill to legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia. The bill had already been debated for an hour in October, but the prorogation of Parliament in January and February moved it back to first reading. Bill C-384 should have already been voted ... (Continue reading)
Written on 6 Apr, 2010 at 17:47 in
Politics | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor
Campaign Life Coalition’s CLC National News publication was all ready for layout, with a story that praised the Conservatives for holding firm on keeping any facet of “reproductive health” out of the government’s signature policy to improve maternal and infant health in the developing world.
On March 17, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon informed the foreign affairs committee that the initiative “does not deal in any way, shape or form with family planning.” ... (Continue reading)
Written on 1 Apr, 2010 at 13:26 in
Abortion Law, Announcements, Features, Politics | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor On March 23, as The Interim went to press, Canada’s opposition parties sought to require the Conservative government to fund abortion as part of their maternal and child health initiative at the G8 summit this June. Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae tabled a motion that would require “the maternal and child health initiative for the world’s poorest regions” to “include the full range of family planning, sexual and reproductive health ... (Continue reading)
Written on 2 Mar, 2010 at 7:52 in
Announcements, Features, Politics | Author:
Analysis by Paul Tuns Editor
Ignatieff pushes abortion as
Harper calls for G8 to help world’s poorest
The numbers are staggering. A half-million women die during pregnancy every year. Nine million children in the developing world will die before their fifth birthday. That’s one pregnant mother and 18 children every minute of every day of the year will die prematurely, unnecessarily. Their dire circumstances cry out for redress, but thus far, ... (Continue reading)
Written on 30 Jan, 2010 at 15:44 in
Announcements, Features, Politics, Real Women | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor Former Planned Parenthood loses 99 per cent of federal funding
An Interim investigation has found that over the past half decade, the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health has had its federal government grants cut by more than 99 per cent.
The federation, formerly the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada and still the Canadian member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, has charitable status, according to the ... (Continue reading)
Written on 27 Jan, 2010 at 8:52 in
Abortion, Politics | Author:
Oswald Clark and Paul Tuns
In November, the House of Representatives passed the Stupak-Pitts amendment (240-194) prohibiting direct or indirect federal taxpayer subsidies for abortion through the comprehensive health care reform bill before the House. The battle then moved to the Senate where senators Robert Casey Jr. (D, Penn.) and Ben Nelson (D, Neb.) fought for a similar amendment in the bill brought forward by ... (Continue reading)
Written on 27 Jan, 2010 at 8:46 in
Politics | Author:
Tony Gosgnach Assistant Editor Ontario’s Family Coalition Party is riding a wave of enthusiasm as it prepares to enter 2010 by welcoming its third leader in its 22-year history.
Phil Lees, a Hamilton-area educator and municipal family issues activist, was acclaimed to head the party during its leadership convention at the Hamilton Convention Centre on Oct. 24. He succeeds Giuseppi Gori, who took over from founding leader Don Pennell.
The party has enjoyed ... (Continue reading)
Written on 23 Dec, 2009 at 8:20 in
Politics, Profiles | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor
Gut Mitges, a pro-life former MP who passed away on Nov. 1 at the age of 90, is being mourned by the Canadian pro-life community.
Mitges spent more than two decades representing the rural southwestern Ontario ridings of Grey-Simcoe and Bruce-Grey, distinguishing himself by voting against the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution because it did not protect the right to life of the ... (Continue reading)
Written on 7 Dec, 2009 at 8:34 in
Euthanasia, Politics | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor 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 with severe disabilities and that care for terminally ill patients needs to get much better, but that is ... (Continue reading)
Written on 1 Dec, 2009 at 6:08 in
Human rights, Politics | Author:
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 are open homosexuals and Leslie has a “male partner” but describes herself as a “queer activist.”
Conservative MP Joy ... (Continue reading)
Written on 8 Nov, 2009 at 7:02 in
Euthanasia, Politics | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor 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 battle against C-384, including a Stop Bill C-384 postcards campaign, encouraging opponents of euthanasia to send hand-written ... (Continue reading)
Written on 23 Oct, 2009 at 10:51 in
Marriage and Family, Politics, Profiles | Author:
Paul Tuns
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, now 30, has a rare combination ... (Continue reading)
Written on 29 Sep, 2009 at 5:49 in
Columnist, Paul Tuns, Politics | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor
Health care reform bills introduced by Congressional Democrats and backed by the White House include federal taxpayer funding of abortion and open the door to rationing care for the elderly and other vulnerable persons, in order to realize savings in the overall health care system.
These controversial measures have led to a backlash against President Barack Obama’s goal of broadly reforming ... (Continue reading)
Written on 29 Sep, 2009 at 5:09 in
Abortion, Paul Tuns, Politics | Author:
Paul Tuns Editor In the spring, the National Assembly of Quebec passed Bill 34, a law that mandated minimum safety and sanitation requirements for private health care facilities that perform surgeries. It mandated, for example, sterile operating rooms and separate ventilating systems, as well as outlined procedures to protect patients who use non-hospital facilities for medical care. In August, three Montreal abortuaries said they would stop committing abortions if the law was not amended to exempt them from the provisions.
... (Continue reading)
