OTTAWA, Ontario, April 30, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – After the Ottawa Catholic School Board sent about 700 students to attend We Day in Ottawa yesterday, a conservative media personality is wondering if it will send that many to the upcoming March for Life on May 9.
“I doubt it,” wrote Brian Lilley, senior correspondent for Sun Media on Parliament Hill, on his blog yesterday.
About four thousand students rallied at the We Day, an event that organizers describe as a “movement of young people leading local and global change.”
We Day, founded in 2007 by the Kielburger brothers, rallies young people to make a difference in the world. But critics have noted that while the Kielbrurger brothers claim to be Catholic, their flavor of social change is not in line with Catholic social teaching.
The brother’s organization has been shown to have ties to Planned Parenthood, the abortion lobby in general, and homosexual activism.
Lilley took issue with a Catholic school board extensively promoting the “progressive” cause of We Day over the pro-life cause of the March for Life.
“Some students do show up, but the March for Life does not receive anywhere near the level of support that We Day does, nor does it get the official endorsement of the Ottawa Catholic School Board.”
“In fact it was only a few years ago that they had a ban on schools organizing trips to the march. The board said it was too much of a political event. Only the intervention of Archbishop Prendergast changed their collectivist mind.”
Calling the rally a “political event” that might not be “in line with Catholic values,” Lilley wondered at the “double standard” that would make a Catholic board enthusiastic about this event and not so much for the March for Life.
“Will I see Education Director Julian Hanlon and other top administrators leading 700 students with the same gusto onto Parliament Hill in two weeks?” he asked.
The theme for the 2013 March for Life is “‘It’s a girl!’ should not be a death sentence”.