By Steve Jalsevac
Toronto, November 3, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Ontario’s municipal elections will take place in 10 days on Monday Nov. 13. With thousands of candidates running in the municipalities of Canada’s most populous province, evaluating all of them for pro-life voters is a near impossible task.
However, Campaign Life Catholic, a division of the provincial and national pro-life organization Campaign Life Coalition, has managed to assemble an impressive list of Catholic School trustee candidates who have answered YES to the organization’s 6 point questionnaire. See https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/municipal/2006/
Provincial election coordinator Mary Ellen Douglas says that a total of 417 candidates are running for the Catholic school trustee positions across the province. CLC has so far managed to effectively contact over 350 of these candidates more than once each. 110 have returned the questionnaires answering YES to all six questions. That would qualify them as being solidly pro-life, assuming that, if elected, they would follow through on what they have indicated in the questionnaire.
Douglas says this is the highest number of responses the organization has ever received from its past municipal election candidate evaluation efforts.
All of the Catholic trustee candidates are expected to have been contacted by CLC before the election and given an opportunity to fill in the questionnaire for the benefit of the voters. Douglas notes that of the contacted candidates, 240 have still not responded. As well, a small number have sent in mixed responses and some with responses indicating they are not suitable for the position of Catholic school trustee, given the explicit moral teachings of the church.
Douglas says responses are still coming in every day and will continue to be added to the list on the organization’s Municipal Election 2006 web page. Currently only those who have answered YES to all 6 questions are listed. Other candidate responses or information will be added inÂsubsequent updates.
Campaign Life Coalition itself is also attempting to obtain information on at least some of the many candidates running for mayor or councillor. Given the limited manpower and resources available for that task, CLC may publish only a few select names for which information has become available.
A questionnaire has been drafted for candidates other than Catholic school trustees. CLC encourages pro-life Ontario citizens to give this questionnaire to candidates and return completed questionnaires to the organization as soon as possible. CLC emphasizes that pro-life candidates would benefit from the extra margin of votes that would be generated from the pro-life organization’s targeted publicity of pro-life candidates, especially in close races.
As for the voters themselves, Campaign Life Coalition organizers stress that they can have a greater impact on municipal elections that on any other election. That is because so very few voters bother to get out and vote for municipal election candidates.
CLC President Jim Hughes strongly encourages Ontario pro-life voters to find out about at least some of their local candidates, check out the CLC Municipal Election 2006 page and get themselves and their family members and friends to vote for at least those candidates who they know to be pro-life or to vote against candidates or incumbents with poor track records. Hughes, says, “your one vote counts for a lot in these municipal elections-providing you do at least a little homework.”
Douglas is appealing for any information from supporters about what candidates have done or said in relation to the life, family or moral issues to help it allow other voters to cast informed ballots on Nov. 13.
Douglas emphasized that Campaign Life Coalition is concerned about upcoming municipal elections in all of Canada’s provinces. She strongly encourages pro-life Canadians to prepare for those elections in their provinces to ensure that as many pro-life, pro-family candidates are elected as possible. She warns, “these men and women frequently go on to become provincial and federal members of parliament and have a major effect on the direction of the nation. So these elections must not be ignored.”
Voters interested in more information on the questionnaires and trustee or other candidate responses or who can provide additional information should phone Jeff at Campaign Life Coalition at (416) 204-9749 or 1-800-730-5358.
See the Municipal Election 2006 page
https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/municipal/2006/
See the Catholic trustees pro-life questionnaire
Html format https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/municipal/2006/cathquestionnaire2006.html
Pdf format for giving to candidates
https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/municipal/2006/cathquestionnaire2006.html
See the questionnaire for all other candidates
https://www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/municipal/2006/municipal_questionnaire2006.pdf (Pdf format only)