Recent Canadian News

By Patrick B. Craine OTTAWA, Ontario, March 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canada's opposition parties are seeking to force the Conservative government into funding abortion as part of their maternal and child health initiative at the G8 summit this June.  And now rumors are circulating Parliament corridors indicating that the Prime Minister is ready to throw in the towel. Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) National Coordinator, Mary Ellen Douglas, told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that the pro-life movement hopes “that the Prime Minister would urge his Party to reject the divisive motion.”  Douglas added, however, that the vote will be beneficial to the political […]

By Patrick B. Craine OTTAWA, Ontario, March 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the House of Commons yesterday that the government would be considering contraception as part of his maternal and child health initiative at the G8 in June, contradicting comments from cabinet members earlier in the week – and drawing criticisms from one pro-life group that he has “caved” on the issue. “We are not closing the door on any option, including contraception,” the Prime Minister told NDP leader Jack Layton (Toronto-Danforth) during Question Period.  “However, we do not wish to debate abortion in this place […]

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski VICTORIA, British Colombia, March 19, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The bishops of the Anglican Catholic Church of Canada (ACCC), part of the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), have petitioned the Vatican requesting full communion with the Catholic Church through the implementation of “Anglicanorum Coetibus.” The apostolic constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus,” published in November last year, provides a way for groups of Anglicans to enter the Catholic Church through the establishment of personal ordinariates, a new type of canonical structure that would allow them to preserve much of their Anglican liturgical and spiritual traditions. Zenit News reports that the petition […]

By Patrick B. Craine OTTAWA, Ontario, March 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The House of Commons held a debate Tuesday on Bill C-384, a bill proposed by member of parliament Francine Lalonde (La Pointe-de-l'Île, BQ) to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide. “Who can repeatedly say with confidence that helping someone in unbearable pain, particularly someone in palliative care – that is definitely unbearable pain – is a crime?” Lalonde asked the House.  “Many witnesses speak about helping someone die peacefully, so that they do not suffer. Is that really murder? Is that really a crime?” The bill received an hour of […]

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski KELOWNA, British Columbia, March 18, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Pro-lifers in British Columbia who maintain a weekly vigil protesting abortion outside the Kelowna General Hospital were again this year greeted by pro-abortion sidewalk chalk art. The Executive Director of The Kelowna Right to Life Society, Marlon Bartram, explained that last summer “a woman plus an undetermined number of accomplices repeatedly barraged the sidewalk across from the abortuary at Kelowna General Hospital with pro-abortion, anti-male, radical feminist slogans for nearly a month straight” at the spot where the pro-life vigil is kept. The sidewalk art stopped abruptly when the perpetrator […]

By Patrick B. Craine OTTAWA, Ontario, March 18, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Opposition critics and the mainstream Canadian media have lashed out at the Conservative government again over their plan for promoting maternal and child health care at this June's G8 summit.  The criticism follows comments from Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon on Tuesday, in which he insisted that the plan would not involve family planning or contraception. Critics argue that hundreds of millions of women are in grave need of contraception, and that access to contraception is essential to reducing maternal mortality.  But a respected social scientist and expert on population issues […]

By Patrick B. Craine OTTAWA, Ontario, March 17, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Family planning and contraception are not included in Canada's new maternal and child health initiative, insisted Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon Tuesday. “This [initiative] does not deal in any way, shape, or form with family planning,” he told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee.  “Indeed, the purpose of this is to be able to save lives.  Too many people are losing their lives on a yearly basis.” Cannon responded to questions from NDP member of parliament John Rafferty, who claimed that the most important and cost effective way […]

By Patrick B. Craine CAPE TOWN, South Africa, March 16, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The director and another employee of a South African partner of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P) have both freely admitted in a telephone interview and an e-mail sent to LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that their organization actively advocates in favor of “abortion rights,” including sitting on the steering committee of the Reproductive Rights Alliance, which pushes for expanded access to legal abortion in the country. D&P is the Canadian Catholic bishops’ official development arm, which has been fraught with controversy after it was revealed last spring that they are funding […]

Thursday March 11, 2010 Toronto Archbishop Joins 40 Days Prayer Vigil and Celebrates Mid-Point Mass By Steve Jalsevac TORONTO, Ontario, March 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – On Monday, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins participated for the second time in a Toronto 40 Days for Life event since 40 Days was launched in Canada’s largest city early last year. As he did last year, Collins quietly prayed with other pro-life witnesses outside the Lawrence Ave. W. abortion centre for about 50 minutes and then celebrated the mid-point mass attended by about 300 40 Days regulars and other supporters. The pro-life community was delighted […]

By John Jalsevac March 10, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The annual Canadian March for Life is only two months away, and in an effort to help spread the word about the event Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), the organizer of the march, has launched a March for Life Facebook fan page and event page.(Click here for the fan page, and here for the event page) “We know that social networking sites can be extremely powerful tools to raise awareness,” said CLC National coordinator Mary-Ellen Douglas. “However, they are also only as effective as we make them. “Therefore, we hope that every pro-life Canadian who is […]