Thursday July 8, 2010
New Canadian Governor General Spearheaded Pro-Gay Adoption/IVF Report
By Patrick B. Craine
OTTAWA, Ontario, July 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Canada’s new Governor General, whose appointment was officially announced Thursday, has been an advocate for homosexual adoption and the destruction of unborn life through government-funded in vitro fertilization (IVF).
David Johnston, 69, a career academic who has been president of the University of Waterloo since 1999, is set to be sworn in on October 1st.
In a speech Thursday, Johnston said that he and his wife Sharon “have always believed that service, whether it is to family, community, university or country is our highest calling.”
“As the representative of the Queen of Canada, who is our country’s head of state, I pledge to be a stalwart defender of our Canadian heritage, of Canadian institutions, and of the Canadian people,” he said.
Johnston recently served as chair of the Ontario government’s expert panel on infertility and adoption, where he oversaw an August 2009 report that takes a shockingly cold and consumerist approach to the issues of family and procreation.
The panel recommended that all members of the province be able to procreate using assisted reproductive technologies, insisting, for example, that single men must have access to donor eggs and “gestational carriers.”
According to the panel of experts, women who undergo IVF should be required to freeze more of their embryos rather than doing additional rounds of IVF, in order to “reduce costs.” They also criticized the highly-controversial federal Assisted Human Reproduction Act for not allowing the sale of sperm, eggs, and embryos, and advocated improving access to homosexual adoption.
Further, they called for the government to fund up to three rounds of in vitro fertilization per woman, estimated at $10,000 a shot.
“Ontario has a unique opportunity – today – to lead in building families,” wrote Johnston in an introductory letter to the report. “We urge the Government to consider our recommendations, which we believe will pave the way to a new and more hopeful future for Ontarians who want to build families – and for the thousands of children who need them.”
Johnston served previously as the principal and vice-chancellor of McGill University, and before that worked in law faculties at Queen’s University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Western Ontario. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988, and was elevated to a Companion of the Order in 1997.
He met the Queen at a state dinner in Toronto earlier this week, and is expected to visit her at Buckingham Palace later in the summer.
In a statement Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper praised Johnston as representing “the best of Canada.”
“Mr. Johnston has a strong record of public service, a broad base of support and an impressive list of achievements,” said Prime Minister Harper. “He has extensive legal expertise, a comprehensive understanding of government and a deep appreciation of the duties and tasks now before him.”
Johnston will replace current Governor General Michaelle Jean, whose five-year term is up September 27. Jean, who was appointed by former Prime Minister Paul Martin, will then serve as UN special envoy to Haiti, her country of origin.
Pro-life Canadians will remember Jean most for her decision to award arch-abortionist Henry Morgentaler with the Order of Canada, and for remaining obstinate despite overwhelming opposition from politicians, members of the Order, and the general public. She also bestowed the honour upon Toronto homosexual “rights” activist Rev. Brent Hawkes, who was responsible for forcing same-sex “marriage” on Ontario through the courts in 2002-2003.
Mary Ellen Douglas, national organizer for Campaign Life Coalition, commented that with his appointment Johnston “is just another person moving up the line that doesn’t seem to have a solid family-oriented base.”
She noted that as Governor General he will not have much direct influence on life and family issues, but pointed out that Jean was nevertheless able to use the post to advance the anti-life cause, for example, through her appointments to the Order of Canada.
Contact Information:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa
K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900
E-mail: [email protected]
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Ontario Gov’t Panel Urges Funding In Vitro Fertilization for all, Including Singles
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/aug/09082708.html