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Monday February 6, 2006
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Print- Nine Pro-Life Members of Parliament in New Canadian Government Cabinet
- Activist Supreme Court Chief Justice Lectures Canadian Prime Minister on Court Appointments
- US Appeals Court: Schools Can Ban Nativity Display While Allowing Menorah and Islamic Crescent
- Pope Condemns “Hedonism” as Inspiration for Abortion
- Britain Funds “Safe Abortions” in Developing World, Opposing US
- Toronto’s Famous SickKids Hospital Admits to Research on Human Embryos
- Daughter’s Suicide After Secret Abortion Leads Father to Activism
- Anglican Archbishop of Sydney calls on Worldwide Communion to Declare Homosexuality a Sin
- Canada Public Broadcaster Caught Airing Perverse Teen Sex Episodes
Nine Pro-Life Members of Parliament in New Canadian Government Cabinet
At least six of new Conservative government Ministers known to support same-sex marriage
TODAY'S HEADLINES
By John-Henry Westen
OTTAWA, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Canadian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper was sworn in this morning with his new Cabinet. Campaign Life Coalition noted that nine pro-life Members of Parliament are among the 26 Cabinet Ministers, representing a third of the cabinet.
The pro-life cabinet ministers include Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Agriculture Minister Chuck Strahl, Justice Minister Vic Toews, Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg, Minister for Democratic Reform Rob Nicholson, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn and National Revenue Minister Carol Skelton.
Many pro-life Canadians wondered at the absence of Jason Kenney, one of the most capable MPs and a stalwart defender of life and family. LifeSiteNews.com has learned that Kenney has been appointed the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister.
Another pro-life MP of prominence within the Conservative Party who was passed over for a cabinet post, Diane Ablonczy, will be the parliamentary secretary to the Finance Minister.
A pro-family analysis of the cabinet reveals at least six of the new Ministers do not adhere to the Conservative Party's official policy in support of traditional marriage. Two of the those known to oppose traditional marriage are Quebec MPs: Transportation Minister Lawrence Canon; and International Cooperation Minister Josee Verner - the pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia MP known as 'Quebec's impoverished Belinda Stronach'.
Other cabinet members known to oppose traditional marriage are: homosexual-activist MP John Baird who was named Treasury Board Minister; Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice; and Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Michael Chong who, while he voted against the homosexual marriage Bill C-38, has reportedly reconsidered his position.
Finally, Liberal MP David Emerson was rewarded for switching to the Conservative Party with the position of Minister of International Trade. Emerson is pro-abortion and voted against traditional marriage on Bill C-38.
Unknown is the stand of Michael Fortier the new Minister of Public Works who was appointed to cabinet without being an elected MP. Fortier, a Montreal businessman was a close advisor to Harper.
Tomorrow the government is to announce its full list of parliamentary secretaries.
The official list of cabinet Ministers follows:
The Right Honourable Stephen Joseph Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
The Honourable Robert Douglas Nicholson
Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Minister for Democratic Reform
The Honourable David Emerson
Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Pacific Gateway and the Vancouver-Whistler Olympics
The Honourable Jean-Pierre Blackburn
Minister of Labour and Minister of the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
The Honourable Gregory Francis Thompson
Minister of Veterans Affairs
The Honourable Marjory LeBreton
Leader of the Government in the Senate
The Honourable Monte Solberg
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration
The Honourable Chuck Strahl
Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
The Honourable Gary Lunn
Minister of Natural Resources
The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
The Honourable Loyola Hearn
Minister of Fisheries and Oceans
The Honourable Stockwell Day
Minister of Public Safety
The Honourable Carol Skelton
Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification
The Honourable Vic Toews
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
The Honourable Rona Ambrose
Minister of the Environment
The Honourable Michael D. Chong
President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister for Sport
The Honourable Diane Finley
Minister of Human Resources and Social Development
The Honourable Gordon O'Connor
Minister of National Defence
The Honourable Beverley J. Oda
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women
The Honourable Jim Prentice
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians
The Honourable John Baird
President of the Treasury Board
The Honourable Maxime Bernier
Minister of Industry
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities
The Honourable Tony Clement
Minister of Health and the Minister for the Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario
The Honourable James Michael Flaherty
Minister of Finance
The Honourable Josée Verner
Minister of International Cooperation and Minister for La Francophonie and Official Languages
The Honourable Michael Fortier
Minister of Public Works and Government Services
Back to TopActivist Supreme Court Chief Justice Lectures Canadian Prime Minister on Court Appointments
OTTAWA, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Chief Justice of the Canadian Supreme Court, Beverly McLachlin, has warned Canada’s new Prime Minister Stephen Harper not to “politicize” the appointment system to the Court. In comments to the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce on Friday, when asked if Parliament should have more of a say in the appointment of Supreme Court Justices, McLachlin said, “The short answer is no.”
“The courts are not just a mirror of Parliament and I think in order to preserve the public confidence in the impartiality of the courts, we should avoid politicizing” the appointment process, said McLachlin.
McLachlin’s definition of “politicizing” may be open to interpretation however. Gwen Landoldt, head of Real Women of Canada, said that when McLachlin says “politicization” she means democratizing the selection process. Landoldt said to LifeSiteNews.com, “The only reason the Justices sit on the bench is because of their ties with the ruling party. In what way is this not politicized?”
Landoldt said, “What else is it but a political appointment? It has more power and influence than any other court in the world. She doesn’t want anyone who will be deferential to Parliament.”
Greater public input in the selection process was not one of Prime Minister Harper’s campaign issues, but the newly appointed Justice Minister, Vic Toews has long been a vocal critic of McLachlin’s “unfettered” activist court.
McLachlin has been a staunch opponent of more transparency and democratic input in the justice system in general and the selection process in particular. She has long been a voluble enthusiast of leftist judicial activism in which Canada’s courts have reconstituted much of the legal environment of Canada.
In a speech last December to a group of New Zealand law students, McLachlin said the Courts must not be subject either to the scrutiny of Parliament or the constraints of the written law. McLachlin said, “The rule of law requires judges to uphold unwritten constitutional norms, even in the face of clearly enacted laws or hostile public opinion.”
Vic Toews responded, “It concerns me very much to hear our Chief Justice say that judges don’t have to follow what is set out in the law for them. If judges don’t have to follow the constitution, what will guide them?”
“I’m hoping that she was taken out of context, that she was not suggesting that she can ignore the very clear requirements of the constitution,” said Toews. “Only Parliament is qualified to change the constitution.”
Stephen Harper said during the campaign, “When I appoint judges, what we’ll be looking for is what I call the judicial temperament, and that is the ability to competently and shrewdly and wisely apply the laws that are passed by the Parliament of Canada.”
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Canada’s Chief Justice Says Courts Must Ignore Written Laws in Favour of Judge-Decided Unwritten “Norms”
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/dec/05120604.html
US Appeals Court: Schools Can Ban Nativity Display While Allowing Menorah and Islamic Crescent
NEW YORK, February 4, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A sharply divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that it is constitutionally permissible for New York City public schools to ban the display of the Christian nativity during Christmas, while permitting the display of the Jewish menorah and the Islamic star and crescent during Hanukkah and Ramadan.
The legal challenge to this policy was brought by the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of Ms. Andrea Skoros and her two children, who attend public elementary schools in New York.
Richard Thompson, President and Chief Counsel of the Thomas More Law Center, called the decision another outrageous example of federal courts discriminating against Christians. Said Thompson, "Many federal courts are using the contrived endorsement test to cleanse America of Christianity. This unprincipled test allows judges to impose their ideological views under the pretext of constitutional interpretation. Thus, the majority opinion says it is legitimate to discriminate against Christians in the largest public school system in the country, with over one million students enrolled in its 1200 public schools and programs. This should be a wake-up call for Christians across this nation."
Judge Straub was equally critical in his dissenting opinion. In his separate and lengthy, 46-page dissent, Judge Straub stated, "It is my view that the policy of the New York City Department of Education to arrange for the children to celebrate the holiday season in schools through the use of displays and activities that include religious symbols of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah and the Muslim commemoration of Ramadan, but starkly exclude any religious symbols of the Christian holiday of Christmas, fails under the [Constitution], both on its face and as applied."
Judge Straub concluded, "I find it clear that the current policy and displays violate the Establishment Clause insofar as a reasonable student observer would perceive a message of endorsement of Judaism and Islam and a reasonable parent observer would perceive a message that Judaism and Islam are favored and that Christianity is disfavored."
The policy at issue expressly states that the display of "secular holiday symbol decorations is permitted," and it lists as examples the menorah and the star and crescent. The policy specifically excludes the display of the Christian nativity scene. The City defended its policy by arguing that the menorah and star and crescent were permissible symbols because they were "secular," whereas the nativity scene had to be excluded because it was "purely religious." Even though the majority recognized that the City's argument was fallacious, stating that the policy "mischaracterizes" these symbols, it still upheld the discriminatory ban on the Christian nativity.
Judge Straub strongly disagreed with the majority, arguing that this aspect of the policy was itself a violation of the Constitution. He noted that the nativity scene or crèche "depicts a historical event and thus, has some non-religious aspects to it." He concluded that the City's "action in defining a menorah and star and crescent as secular, and a crèche as 'purely religious,' is impermissible insofar as it takes positions on divisive religious issues."
Robert Muise, the Law Center's attorney handling the case, commented, "This is a shocking decision and Christians should be outraged by it. We strongly believe that the majority decision is fundamentally flawed, as pointed out by the dissent, and we intend to take this fight to the next level. This battle is far from over."
See the full ruling online here:
http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov:81/isysnative/RDpcT3BpbnNcT1BOXDA0LTEyMjktY3Zfb3BuLn...
Pope Condemns “Hedonism” as Inspiration for Abortion
By Terry Vanderheyden
VATICAN CITY, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pope Benedict XVI, in addresses Sunday, fingered “widespread hedonism” as the source for the lack of respect for human life that underlies abortion in society.
Addressing 40,000 pilgrims led by Italian Prelate Cardinal Camillo Ruini who came to commemorate Italy’s Day for Life, the Pope said, “Each human life, such as it is . . . deserves and demands that it be protected and promoted. We know only too well that this truth is often put at risk by today’s widespread hedonism, our pursuit of a so-called society of well being. When this happens human life is exalted as long as it fascinates us and gives us pleasure, but when it is shadowed by illness or when it is no longer attractive, then it is no longer respected,” according to an AsiaNews report.
Addressing the Vatican Parish of St. Anne’s earlier in the day, Pope Benedict explained the key differences between the modern view towards life and that held by Christians. “Simplified: one maintains that human life is in the hands of man, the other in the hands of God,” he said. “Modern culture has legitimately emphasized man’s autonomy and earthly reality, in this way developing a perspective dear to the heart of Christianity, that of the Incarnation of God. But, as Vatican II clearly stated, if this leads to the opinion that ‘all things created do not depend on God and that man can adapt them without reference to the creator,’ then, the origins for profound instability are laid.”
See AsiaNews coverage:
http://asianews.it/view.php?l=en&art=5300
Britain Funds “Safe Abortions” in Developing World, Opposing US
By Gudrun Schultz
LONDON, Great Britain, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Britain has announced a new fund providing money to organizations that promote “safe abortion” services in the developing world. The Department for International Development (DfID) will contribute £3 million over two years to the fund, as founding donor.
The fund is a direct attempt to combat losses from the withdrawal of US financial support.
The US will not contribute funding to any group that is involved in promoting abortion. That policy dissolved under Clinton, who authorized funding of international abortion organizations, but was reinstated by George Bush in 2001. Organizations seeking US support must sign a clause stating they will not encourage abortions or offer abortion services.
US policy on funding has had an impact on the abortion industry in developing countries. The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) has lost $15 million per year for the past five years, as well as two to four million dollars worth of contraceptives per year. In Kenya, for example, three clinics were closed outright, several others were reduced in size, and “outreach” programs promoting abortion and contraception were cancelled.
With new support from Britain, and anticipated support from Northern European countries, the Netherlands and Canada, the IPPF has said it hopes to see funding reach $35 million.
See related LifeSiteNews articles:
Propaganda Campaign Attempts to regain US Funding for Overseas Abortion
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/sep/03092501.html
Council of Europe, Planned Parenthood Attack US Pro-Life Foreign Policy
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/oct/03100203.html
Toronto’s Famous SickKids Hospital Admits to Research on Human Embryos
By John-Henry Westen and Gudrun Schultz
TORONTO, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) –Toronto’s Sick Children’s Hospital (SickKids) conducts stem-cell research on human embryos, LifeSiteNews has learned.
In response to an inquiry on stem cell research, Christine Cleland, who handles donor information at SickKids, sent an FAQ regarding Stem Cell Research at SickKids. The FAQ reveals the hospital’s participation in, and open support of, embryonic stem cell research.
Stem-cell research using human embryos involves killing the embryo in the very earliest stages of development, in order to use its cells for another purpose.
LifeSiteNews contacted SickKids for comment, but the hospital did not respond to our request by press time.
Please find below FAQs regarding Stem Cell Research at SickKids.
Does SickKids do stem cell research?
• Yes, SickKids is conducting stem cell research. SickKids believes this research will allow for the development of new therapies for diseases such as muscular dystrophy, arthritis, cancer, neuromuscular disease, blindness, stroke, heart disease and Parkinson's.
Does SickKids conduct stem cell research on human embryos?
• Yes, human embryonic stem cell research is conducted at SickKids. This research is approved by the hospital Research Ethics Board and by the Canadian Institute of Health Research oversight committee.
Why does SickKids do human embryonic stem cell research?
• Embryonic stem cells have the potential to make all cell types of the body - bone, muscle, skin, blood - and may be used to treat more forms of disease. At this stage, SickKids researchers feel that embryonic and adult stem cell research is needed to ensure the best outcome for treating diseases that are currently incurable.
Is there someone I can complain to about SickKids conducting stem cell research on human embryos?
• If you would like to complain about SickKids conducting stem cell research, please send a letter (OR submit your complaint in writing) to the Public Affairs Department at The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario.
To express concerns:
Vice President of Strategic Communications and Public Affairs - Tina Warren 416-813-5330 or
Director - Helen Simeon 416-813-5047 or
Daughter’s Suicide After Secret Abortion Leads Father to Activism
CHERRY HILL, New Jersey, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Stacy Zallie ended her life at age 21, one year after undergoing a secret abortion. Although her family was close, Stacy never told them she had been pregnant and never talked about the abortion.
Her father believes it was pain over the abortion that led her to take her life. He has started a Web portal and foundation in her memory, the Stacy Zallie Foundation, that offers counseling and support to women who have had abortions.
"I knew it was a life event for her," Mr. Zallie told the CourierPost. "It was the most serious issue in that brief life of hers. I know, in my heart, it took a toll on her emotionally and mentally, that she couldn't recover from it. And it just breaks my heart that she didn't open up."
At one point Stacy asked to go in to therapy, but ended the sessions after only three months.
A successful businessman, George Zallie began the foundation after hearing women speak about the pain of living with the fallout from having an abortion, at a retreat following his daughter’s death.
"I heard guilt, remorse, loss," he recalls. "Their frankness was really astounding to me. It was helpful for me in understanding just what Stacy was going through . . . It became important to me to get the message out."
The site offers help to women who are suffering emotionally and spiritually from having ended their babies’ lives. The Foundation emphasizes the need for compassion and non-judgmental care, recognizing the depth of pain caused by abortion.
Dr. David Reardon, a post-abortion specialist and researcher, has collected extensive documentation on the effects of abortion. According to statistics, teenage girls are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide after abortion. 60 percent of women consider suicide and 28 percent attempt it after abortion.
“If I get one girl -- one girl -- to go to that site and realize that she's not alone, then it's worth it,” Mr. Zallie said.
To visit the Stacy Zallie Foundation site, go to:
http://www.stacyzallie.org
For further resources see:
http://www.afterabortion.org/
See related LifeSiteNews articles:
LifeSiteNews.com Interview with Angelina Steenstra: Coordinator of Silent No More Awareness Campaign
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/may/040510b.html
Anglican Archbishop of Sydney calls on Worldwide Communion to Declare Homosexuality a Sin
SYDNEY, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Australia, has called upon the Worldwide Anglican Communion unequivocally to condemn homosexual behavior as sinful. Jensen warned of a slippery slope toward acceptance of homosexual practice among Anglicans.
To bless homosexuality, said Jensen to the Sydney Morning Herald on February 3, “would be to call holy what God calls sin to be repented on.”
Jensen’s call comes at a time in the Anglican Communion that concessions are being made not only to civil laws legitimizing homosexual partnerings but in which the official US and Canadian Anglican churches are blessing homosexuality and same-sex partnerships as an acceptable lifestyle for Christians.
Jensen is a signatory to a letter with 18 Anglican leaders supporting comments by the bishop of Rochester that gay unions were inconsistent with “traditional teachings” on marriage. Jensen told a group of British evangelists that homosexuality is a “life and death” matter for the Anglican Church.
Responding to the frequent accusation that Christian leaders are “obsessed” with sex, Jensen said, “Our culture is obsessed with sex so we should not be embarrassed with engaging with this issue. If we did not engage we would be divorced from our culture. Scripture declares this to be a matter of life and death.”
Jensen’s comments appeared on the website of the Anglican Mainstream, a group “committed to promote, teach and maintain the Scriptural truths on which the Anglican Church was founded.”
The Worldwide Anglican Communion has been in a state of crisis, with a formal schism imminent, after the 2004 consecration of an open and unrepentant homosexual, Gene Robinson, as bishop of New Hampshire. Anglican leaders in Africa have begun to offer sanctuary to North American Anglicans who wish to retain the Christian teaching on sexuality and marriage, setting up alternate episcopal structures for individual congregations.
In England, the House of Bishops, the governing body of the Church of England, agreed to allow the civil unions of its openly homosexual clergy on the proviso that the clergyman gives his bishop a written promise that the relationship will be chaste. This decision followed the legalisation of homosexual partnerships in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and was condemned by traditional Christians around the world as a transparent and cynical capitulation to militant secularism.
Read the website of the Anglican Mainstream:
http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/
Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Christian Leaders do not Speak for Christian Public says Prime Minister
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05080807.html
Canada Public Broadcaster Caught Airing Perverse Teen Sex Episodes
Teens specifically targeted for extreme sexual liberalization by program
By Terry Vanderheyden and John-Henry Westen
OTTAWA, February 6, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – “Naked Guy,” “Dog Balls,” and “Ball Waxing,” are archived sample clips of sexual programming available from Canada’s publicly-funded broadcaster, the CBC.
A CBC television program called Nerve, which formerly aired after school at 5:30pm Mondays, is described by blogger Joel Johannesen as a means to promote as normal such things as transsexualism, homosexual lifestyles, sado-masochism, same-sex “marriage” and a pre-occupation with anything sexual.
On line archives of the show highlight some of the bizarre examples of the former program.
Two shows in particular are sexual kinkiness involving what Johannesen estimates are teen males. One is a video of a young teenager going to a wax parlour to have his testes waxed, the other films a young man stripping completely nude in a parking lot. In the first instance, the entire waxing procedure of the sexual organ, Johannesen states, “is captured by the astute CBC cameraman who is employed by the state with your tax dollars.”
Johannesen points out that the CBC’s Nerve program and its web site is a publicly-funded effort. “I was surprised that this web site was actually part of the liberals’ prized CBC which we all pay for. It and all its contents was bought and paid for and presented by – not some perverted, depraved socialist, and not some adult-only pay-per-view business – but by YOU. Yes, you. Pat yourself on the back.”
“The state-run CBC presents these videos—taken from their TV show, shown free of charge to our kids,” Johannesen adds. “It is in fact a whole program designed to appeal to our nations’ teens, specifically.”
Click here for a description of some of the perverse programs created by CBC for Nerve:http://www.proudtobecanadian.ca/blog/index/weblog/3656/
Johannesen asks, “Did you know you bought this and that this is what our CBC is up to?”
To contact Prime Minister Stephen Harper:
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
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