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Ethicist Somerville Denied Order of Canada for Mild Opposition to Gay Agenda

Award was refused because Somerville is too "controversial"

By Hilary White

OTTAWA, July 8, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - With the appointment of Dr. Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada, critics have charged that the current administration of the Order have turned the country's highest civilian honour into just one more Canadian paean to left-wing political correctness.

The latest blast comes from the Montreal Gazette, in which Henry Aubin writes of the refusal of the Order's advisory council to award the Order of Canada to the country's leading ethicist, Margaret Somerville of McGill University in Montreal, who was nominated for the Order two years ago.

Unlike Dr. Morgentaler, however, Somerville was reportedly too "controversial" a figure for the Order of Canada.

Last year, Somerville was also snubbed at Ryerson University in Toronto because she hesitated to support the adoption of children by homosexual partners and does not support same-sex "marriage," although she is in favour of same-sex civil unions. Ryerson University announced that they would have reconsidered granting Somerville an honorary doctorate if they'd known she was against homosexual "marriage."

Aubin writes that the naming of Henry Morgentaler, "the highest profile proponent of one side of Canada's most divisive social, religious and political issue of the last generation," is "raising questions" about the nature and future of the Order of Canada.

Aubin writes, "Has the Order taken on a special political agenda? If so, what role does such a bias play when the Order decides which candidates to admit into its august ranks and which to reject?"

Somerville's assertion that homosexual couples should not adopt children, based on clinical evidence showing that children thrive best in the context of natural marriage, was met with fury from the homosexual activist and radical feminist community. This was despite her support for same-sex civil unions and her lack of categorical moral objections, as one of Canada's best-known ethics experts, to abortion.

Aubin points to other major crusaders of the far left who have already received the honour for their advocacy. He lists Brent Hawkes, the Toronto minister of the Metropolitan Community Church, who is the public face of the same-sex marriage campaign. Hawkes was given the Order by Governor General Michaëlle Jean in 2007. Aubin also notes that writer Jane Vance Rule was lauded by the Order's advisory council, specifically for "populating her novels with homosexual as well as heterosexual characters".

Aubin observes out that although most Canadians would consider such appointments to be an example of "broadmindedness," the refusal to grant the Order to Somerville is a clear indicator that the opposite is true, and that the award is handed out as a reward for furthering a particular political agenda.

Somerville was nominated by a faculty member of the Toronto School of Theology, Carol Finlay, who said that the award was refused because Somerville is too "controversial".

"That's hilarious. Morgentaler is many times more controversial," Aubin responds.

Pro-life and pro-family people will recall that Sue Johansen, the vehemently pro-abortion "sex-educator" who has been Canada's foremost promoter of unlimited explicit sex education for children, and the late Jane Rule, a writer of lesbian novels and Canada's first open public lesbian figure, and the late Dr. Elizabeth Bagshaw, one of Canada's early contraception campaigners, have also been inducted into the Order.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

In Canada Even "Moderates" are Tarred as Extremists - Editorial
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06062002.html

Gay Activists Target Public Recognition of Prominent Canadians Due to Support for Traditional Marriage
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06060906.html

Order of Canada Awarded to Gay Pastor Who Attacked Vatican, Performed Illegal Gay "Marriages" under Conservative Government
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07070304.html

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